How to Improve Motivation and Rewards in the Workplace

Motivate your team to work together.

You can meet the needs of your organization more efficiently if you motivate your employees through the use of performance rewards. Your goal should be to improve performance through the efficient use of practical incentives, such as extra days off, raises and bonuses for deserving employees. But don't continually reward just a few top employees. Instead, offer incentives to people at every level so that the performance of the organization as a whole improves. Chances are you will have to adjust your incentive system periodically as organizational needs change, so stay flexible and attuned to the needs of your employees.

Instructions

1. Clarify organizational objectives. If employees don't know what they are working toward, you can't expect them to feel motivated and inspired. Lay out a clear set of objectives, including goals, strategies and an appropriate time line. This lets employees know what you expect from them as a unit.

2. Encourage cooperation by offering rewards based on team results. For example, divide responsibilities among different groups of employees and reward the teams that meet or exceed your expectations. If employees have an incentive to work together, it will be to their advantage to work toward healthy employee relationships and maintain a motivated atmosphere.

3. Develop healthy competition by rewarding employees who model attributes you want others to adopt. For example, promote employees who elicit excellent customer feedback and who work well with others. If promotion isn't an option, offer financial incentives, such as bonuses or raises, as well as public recognition, all of which foster traits that contribute to the effectiveness of your organization.

4. Ask for employee feedback so you can repair underlying causes of low morale and decreased motivation. For example, if improper conduct -- such as safety violations and mental or physical harassment -- goes unreported or undisciplined, employee morale will suffer. Listen to employee feedback to identify problems, and then take the steps to remedy the situation.

5. Review your incentive system periodically to determine which methods are effective and which you should discard. Cancel incentive programs that don't work so you can shift resources to incentive programs that do. There's no point in devoting resources toward motivational strategies that don't result in performance or morale improvements.

References

• "Managing Human Resources"; Alan Cowling, et al.; 1998 [pgs. 175-181]
• "The Entrepreneur's Information Sourcebook"; Susan C. Awe; 2006 [pg. 150]

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish