Can You Give Me Tips on How to Motivate My Employees?

Keeping your employees motivated and invested in their work can seem like a formidable task. While nothing that you can do will ensure that all of your employees feel the motivation to go above and beyond, there are some things that will create this feeling in a bulk of your workers. By putting a little time, effort and perhaps money into motivating your employees, you will increase both employee satisfaction and productivity.

Instructions

1. Install a suggestion box. Giving employees a voice often leads to improved motivation. Allow employees to feel like their opinions make a difference by placing a suggestion box in a central area in your office. Put a cork board behind this suggestion box, and post suggestions from the box, with responses from management, to allow employees to see that their suggestions are being addressed.

2. Create a workplace community. Employees will be more motivated to give work their all if they feel like they aren't just another cog in a wheel but instead a part of a community. Arrange activities in which your employees can participate, such as group bowling outings, employee dinners and day trips to local attractions, such as amusement parks. By picking up the tab for your employees, or at least providing them with a discount, you make these offerings even more tempting.

3. Recognize employees annually with awards. You are likely proud of your high-performing employees, but you might not actually take time to show it. Increase the likelihood that your hardest workers know just how appreciative you are by holding annual award ceremonies. Create a series of awards to offer every three, six or 12 months. When employees win these awards, give them plaques to hang on their office wall so that they can proudly display their accomplishment and remind themselves and others of the hard work they have done.

4. Engage employees in productivity contests. Turn increasing productivity into a game to ramp up motivation. Explore your productivity levels for the past several months, and set a goal that is slightly above this average. Offer employees incentives, such as a free lunch, a gourmet coffee breakfast or a monetary award, if they meet these goals.

5. Present employees with random appreciation gifts. Instead of showing your appreciation only at set times throughout the year, make your employee acknowledgments more random. By periodically awarding your employees small gifts, such as imprinted mugs, small-denomination gift cards and personalized pencil and pen sets, you show them that you appreciate them all year round, not just during the holiday season. The randomness of these presents will have a positive influence on motivation, because your employees will never know when the next gift is going to turn up on their desks.

References

• HR World: Ten Motivational Tips
• Microsoft: Four Ways to Reward, Motivate Employees