How to motivate employees?

An employer who wants to build a strong team should first think about an appropriate motivation system. Well-motivated employees are able to cope with any task and are more willing to engage in their duties. Unfortunately, many employers give up this element claiming that it is associated with high costs. We prove that they are wrong! More on how to motivate employees and do not incur additional costs, below.

Small firms often cannot afford salaries and bonuses as large corporations. However, as mentioned above, wage factors are only a fraction of all motivators, while the motivation system itself does not have to be a large expense. At this point, it is worth focusing on employees needs – understanding them will help you find the main driving force of the team.

1. Work-life balance

You want have a happy, committed and willing to work employee? Take care of his basic needs. For this purpose, provide him with a balance between work and private life. An overworked and tired employee will change  his job sooner than his attitude. To prevent similar situations, implement more breaks during the day and consider using flexible working hours. It will allow employees to decide what time they want to start work and make it possible to adjust this decision to their individual needs.

2. Gamification

It adopts the mechanics of games into a different environment, such as the workplace. One of the basic ones are points, rankings and progress bars. By using them, we can playfully influence the level of commitment of each employee. For this purpose, it is worth designing a dedicated platform in which employees see their own achievements and others, or choose a simpler offline version.

3. Internal communication

It is well known that communication is an important factor in problem solving. As it turns out, it is just as important when we want to prevent them. In order for employees to be involved in the company development, they must feel that they are treated as partners. This applies to informing about what is happening in the company and what is its situation. Extensive internal communication, e.g. in the form of cyberspace, allows you to share messages and exchange opinions. At this point, however, not only what we write is important, but also the way we communicate with employees. To make the information exchange experience as good as possible, you can apply a unique narrative and role adoption. For instance, employees can be space crew members, management – the NASA, and the company’s goal – conquering a new planet, etc.

4. Leadership programs

Appreciating and promoting current employees, instead of looking for new ones, is one of the best ways to motivate to work. And to be sure that once a specialist, and today a manager, will cope with new challenges, it is worth taking care of his preparation for this function. Support programs for managers enable the development of competences necessary for the leadership position. They include, among others:

• goal setting and effective tasks delegation
• communicating expectations and making an assessment
• constructive communication and giving feedback
• identifying talents and developing others
• coaching and mentoring

5. Development paths

One of the most important motivators is promotion and further development. For this purpose, it is worth creating dedicated career paths. It is a sequence of positions that an employee can take after meeting certain criteria. Therefore, it is an employee development plan that provides him with support in raising the competences necessary for promotion. It allows for constant monitoring of its work effects, and also identifies its potential.

You can find more about motivating employees here.

You already know more about how to motivate employees than before reading this article. So if you already have an idea for an adequate project or action, contact us! We will be happy to help you choose the right tools and implement it!