How to Improve Employee Motivation

Do you think your employees are lacking the motivation to do their job efficiently? With the economy in a downturn, overall morale is at an all-time low and it's not surprising that motivation is taking a dive. As a supervisor, it is your responsibility to help keep your employee motivation up. High employee motivation means better work, less employee turnover, and a more positive work environment. Read on to learn how to help improve your employee's motivation:

Instructions

1. Set goals. Set weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. Set up an inter-office visual to track progress and spark some healthy competition between employees. Have meetings often to discuss goal setting and progress of their goals. Being able to cross several items off of their goal during each meeting is mentally rewarding and will help increase motivation.

2. Reward employees for reaching goals. Be creative with your reward system-- it doesn't only have to be monetary. Rewards can be as simple as bagels in the morning, taking the team out to lunch, a VIP parking spot, etc. Showing an employee that you appreciate gratitude can be all you need to increase employee motivation and have them start performing better at work.

3. Commend solid work. Remember not to let any good work go unnoticed. A simple "Great Job on that Sales Analysis Report!" while passing each other in the hallway can go a long way. Employee's thrive on recognition and will work harder to get that next compliment.

4. Implement an open door policy. Keep your office open to employee suggestions and concerns. Let your co-workers know that you are willing to make changes based on their suggestions-after all they are the ones that have the hands-on experience with how most of the work is being handled.

5. Create a positive work environment. A little water cooler talk is healthy, but frown upon excessive office gossip that can bring down morale. If you hear someone talking bad about a co-worker or spreading a rumor, stop them in their tracks. There's no quicker way to bring down an office than a bad wave of office gossip.

Resources

• How to Improve Employee Retention
• How to Communicate Effectively as a Manager
• How to Improve your Work Environment and Boost Morale