How to Motivate Your Employees
No matter what industry you’re in, when you’re a leader, motivating your employees is critical.
Employee motivation describes the level of creativity, energy, and commitment that your employees bring to their jobs. When an employee is motivated, they feel an internal, intrinsic drive to be successful and productive.
Everyone is unique as far as the specifics of what they find motivating, but as an employer, there are certain actions you can take to inspire your employees in the workplace. There are also things that you might be inadvertently doing that reduce motivation.
The following are things modern leaders should know to motivate any employee.
Know What Not To Do
Sometimes, when it comes to managing employees and keeping their levels of motivation high, knowing what not to do can be as important as knowing what to do.
Some of the things that contribute to declines in motivation include:
- Leading through fear. When you have employees who are constantly on edge about different factors in the workplace, like being laid off, it’s going to affect everything, including not only motivation but also productivity, morale, and culture.
- A lack of goals is going to make it hard for anyone to feel motivated because they don’t know what they’re working toward.
- Micromanaging employees or not giving them autonomy over how they work and achieve goals will erode their engagement and motivation.
- Burnout’s a huge issue in the modern workplace, and it’s a red flag of mismanagement. When employees are burned out, there’ going to feel disconnected from their job, negative and cynical when they think about it, and they’re going to be exhausted overall. Burnout symptoms can vary widely but often include irritability, low productivity levels, and high levels of absenteeism.
- Not appreciating your employees or not making it apparent to them that you appreciate them makes them feel like they’re just part of one big machine, rather than being a valued individual. Cogs in a machine don’t tend to feel very high motivation levels.
So what can you do?
Empower Your Employees
When you empower your employees, they’re going to feel more motivated. So how can you do that?
First, let your employees know what your overall expectations are, but let them know that you’re leaving it up to them to make the decisions that will improve their work. You can reward the people who are problem-solvers in the workplace, and you should never punish any decision made thoughtfully.
If you see an employee potentially heading down a problematic decision-making path, step in, but do so as a coach. Help them find a better way to do things.
Make the Workplace Pleasant
It sounds incredibly simple but developing and cultivating a pleasant workplace often isn’t on the top of the minds of leadership.
When you have a pleasant workplace, it’s going to reduce burnout, increase engagement and be more motivating to employees overall.
A pleasant workplace isn’t just one where you treat employees with respect.
It’s also a workplace where they have the technology and tools they need to do their jobs efficiently. The space is cleaned, and the equipment is well-maintained. It’s an environment that feels good overall and makes things as easy on employees as is possible.
Show Gratitude
Gratitude goes a long way in any environment, and this certainly includes when you’re managing employees.
You don’t have to go overboard to express gratitude.
For example, one way to be a gracious leader is to always use your employees’ names when you praise them. Include details about the action they took or the decision they made that you’re especially pleased with and how it had a positive impact on the company. If you’re going to praise an employee, make sure you do it shortly after they take the action you notice.
You can also further show your appreciation and gratitude with action. For example, if you feel like an employee is doing especially well, let them know that they’re on a path to promotion.
Connect Employees to a Larger Mission or Purpose
Employees in the modern work environment are often very purpose-driven. When an employee feels like their work has a purpose, they’re more productive, more engaged, and tend to stay at a company longer. They’re also 21% more profitable, according to a 2018 report from Gallup.
Despite these impressive realities, around 70% of employees aren’t engaged.
You, as a leader, can connect them with the larger mission of the company.
Give them a purpose. Help them feel part of something larger. Show them how they are an invaluable part of the company based on their strengths.
Micromanagement is Not Motivating
There has to be a balance when you’re leading employees. Yes, you want to be visible and present when you need them, but you want to avoid micromanagement. Micromanagement is one of the biggest motivation killers.
By avoiding micromanagement, you’re letting employees know you trust them. You’re showing your confidence in them and their ability to do the task or job at hand.
When workers have a healthy amount of autonomy, they also have a greater sense of wellbeing related to their job.
Include Employees in the Process of Setting Goals
First, for a productive and motivational workplace to exist, you need to have very clear goals at an organizational level and also at a team and employee level. Employees have to know what they’re working toward to experience engagement and productivity.
You should also include employees in goal-setting.
That will create more clarity in what needs to be achieved. When employees have a deeper understanding of goals, they can see how their own actions can impact whether or not those are achieved.
Finally, respect is one of the most powerful motivators in any relationship, and that includes between managers and employees.
If your employees don’t feel like their leaders respect them, there’s not going to be any reason for them to go above and beyond. Build motivation through individual respect for everyone you manage at work.
