How to Motivate Employees to Produce More

Motivated employees are more likely than those lacking motivation to give you their all.

Motivated employees are likelier than those lacking motivation to be productive. If your employees seem to be lacking in the motivation department, it's time to address the factors that may be leading to that lack of motivation. Getting your employees motivated again will make them feel happier in their jobs and boost your business' bottom line.

Instructions

1. Find out why your employees are lacking motivation. Use employee surveys, meetings and focus groups to find out what's behind the lack of motivation. It may be anything from a feeling that they are being micromanaged to a lack of compensation. Generally, anonymous feedback collection works best because anonymous employees are more likely to be honest about what's causing their discontent.

2. Create an action plan based on your findings. For instance, in a tough economy where many people have lost jobs, those left in companies may find themselves doing more than their share of work. If employees overwhelmingly reported feeling overworked, find ways to lighten their loads. For instance, look at your current processes to eliminate redundancies and create streamlined workloads.

3. Address common morale killers. These could include a lack of communication across your company, or a culture that doesn't make it easy for employees to get to know their coworkers well. Policies that create a more welcoming environment for employees will make them feel happier coming to work. And happy employees are productive employees.

4. Offer rewards for a job well done. You might put in place a bonus program or hand out awards to high performers with gift certificates for a free lunch each month. This carrot-and-stick approach should be accompanied by an expression of appreciation for your employees. Additionally, use the annual appraisal process as a way to thank employees for their service and provide adequate monetary reward.

5. Offer avenues for advancement. During annual performance reviews, talk to your employees about where they would like to see themselves in your company and how much they'd like to earn. Then develop career path plans to help them reach those goals. Once they have a clear path laid out in front of them, they'll be more likely to work hard to get there.

6. Provide flexibility when possible. Working a nine-to-five job can get stressful when employees have other competing priorities in their lives, such as families and college. Allowing employees to take long lunches to get errands done or leave early once in a while to get to class can help them feel valued.

References

• Microsoft Business: 4 Ways to Reward, Motivate Employees
• My Venture Pad: The Best Ways to Motivate Employees at Work
• TTG Consultants: Increasing Staff Productivity; David J. Bowman