Employee Motivation - Get The Basics Right First*
To motivate your people, it is vital that you start off
with understanding that there are some things that need to be
fixed first, before you can get on with the above the
line actions which develop a strong and engaged culture.
There are just eight things you need to do.
Building a team of motivated people in your business is vital to
get the very best results, but so many managers focus on the
'ra-ra-ra', rather than the important things - the things
that make people feel comfortable in their working environment.
Here are eight that you might want to have a think about:-
1. The Weather Is it too hot, or too cold. Your people
need an environment which is, like Goldilocks said, 'Just
right'. So is the office too stuffy in summer? Or too icy in
winter? Is it draughty? Do people get wet when accepting
deliveries, because the outside roof leaks? Literally make sure
that external factors are as they wish.
2. The Breaks Sometimes working in a day-to-day job can
get boring and exhausting. So people need to know when their
breaks are and that they wil be able to take them - it's not
that complicated. Yet often, they just aren't able to have this
basic courtesy in place. Planning and caring for your people's
needs is vital. It's what you would want for yourself, isn't it?
3. Holidays And vacations/holidays are important too -
some would say it's the most important thing on the
working year calendar. So enable this to happen, when they need
to know, so that they can plan their invaluable time away from
the business and refresh.
4. Being Heard You people need you to listen to then and
hear them - really hear what they are saying and
respond with action and/or acknowledgement. Be out there
creating good, open relationships with your people and take in
what they say - what's important to them - and deliver
solutions to make conditions great.
5. Achievable Goals By being really, really clear about
what you expect from your employees, you will set the scene for
commited staff. Through knowing exactly what their performance
should look like to be judged excellent, by you, gets
buy-in, big-time. So be clear, give them the resources to
achieve success and they will be well onside.
6. Being Thanked As they do a good job for you each day
- tell them! Appreciation for acheiving success, especially when
it's from the boss is so important. So recognising
excellent performance, even for small tasks, cost nothing and
takes but a moment - worth building into your day job activities
- every day!
7. Challenge People like to do new things, to explore,
to seek out and utilise their potential, Sometimes this means
they will have to be 'stretched' in what they do. With a helping
hand, to support, coach and grow the skills of your people, you
are setting in place a keen, ambitious and
ready-for-the-next-experience star in the making. So find new
ways to develop them.
8. Security In today's business climate, it isn't always
easy to build the best future consistently - things change too
much, too quickly. But you can go some way to ensure that it is
a safe place to be. With this level of security, your people
will loosen up and feel capable of being with you, rather
than against. It is a measure of your own leadership as to how
well this works.
These are basics for your people - get these right and you will
be at least 85% there, in having motivated people working
with you. Then you can turn on the charm, get radical and
creative and find them right there alongside you (in front
even!). Focused on building your business strongly.