7 Ways To Keep Your Employees Motivated

Your employees are the backbone of your company, and keeping them happy and motivated is crucial if you want your business to be a successful one. You need to concentrate on building the business, so making sure that everyone who works for you is doing their job well and contentedly will stop you from being distracted – you can just leave them to work and trust that everything will get done as you want it to be. So if you want to keep your employees motivated to keep their productivity up, here are some ways to do it.Keep Your Employees Motivated

Be Supportive

Although ideally, you will want to be able to simply let your staff do their jobs pretty much on their own, if they do ever need any support it’s important that you provide it and are there for them. A sympathetic ear from the boss can make a big difference to how comfortable someone is in the workplace, and someone who is comfortable will work better than someone who is constantly worried about other issues in their lives. A supportive leader is a good leader and someone who can be seen as a role model. Once you have become someone’s role model, they will be even keener to impress, and they will work even harder. Motivation is an inbuilt attribute when the boss is understanding, patient, and supportive.

Empower Them

Just as you need to be supportive, you also need to be able to empower your employees so that they know you trust them to do a good job. An employee who feels trusted and appreciated will always work harder than someone who never receives any praise or feedback for anything they do. Encourage your employees to have dreams and aspirations, and to work towards them. Let them display personal items on their desks on in their work areas. Don’t forget that offering training to assist with career development is a good way to help not only your employee but the business as well. Whatever it takes to show them that you care about them as a person, rather than as a faceless, even nameless employee who could be replaced at any time.

Positive Working Environment

If you can make the working environment a positive, good place to be, then your staff will be much more motivated. Making sure that the office is clean and tidy is an excellent start, and reminding everyone to take responsibility for their own work areas (this links in with the empowerment aspect of helping with motivation) will also be a bonus. You might consider creating a comfortable break room for people to take a rest in when they need to. You could offer a coffee delivery service or office snack delivery so that there is always something good to drink and eat. Snacks, comfortable chairs, casual clothing, free lunches, half days on Fridays, days off on birthdays, and other ideas for making the workplace a positive space will all keep your employees highly motivated.

Make Teamwork Happen

Not everyone likes the idea of teamwork, but it’s a great way to encourage motivation in your employees. There is nothing more useful when it comes to keeping someone focused on the task at hand than to be part of a team and therefore answerable to someone other than their boss, and themselves. This added responsibility will often be felt subconsciously and will boost performance levels substantially. A little added healthy competition is never a bad idea either.

Rewards

As with anything in life, if there is a reward involved people are much more likely to try harder. It’s true that doing things for your own self-satisfaction is something that pushes people forward, but to truly get the best out your team, offering real, tangible rewards is the best option of all. You could offer something like a gift card, or a paycheck bonus, or even an extra vacation day for a job well done. It can be anything from finding new business to promoting your company well at an event. Whatever it is, making sure that the employee understands why you are pleased with what they did and that they know the reward is directly related to their work.

 

Offer Flexibility

For some staff members, flexible working might be required from time to time – or all the time, depending on their circumstances. They may need to start later, finish earlier, or work from home at least some of the time. They may want to work in a job share or go part-time when they were previously full-time employees. Listen to why your employee wants to change the way they work, and see if you can help them to achieve their goals. It might not always be possible (it will depend in part on the tasks that they are required to do), but if it is and it will suit everyone flexible working could play a vital part of helping your employees feel motivated, and in boosting your company both in terms of profits and reputation. Today, more and more companies are leaving the 9 to 5 routine behind and allowing employees to work when they are most productive. If this could work for you, you should certainly consider it.

Ask Questions

By asking your employees what they want from their workplace, where they see the company going, how they think things could be improved, they will understand that you value them and their opinions. After all, they are one of the most important aspects of your company, and they see things from all kinds of different levels, which means that they are best placed to let you know what works, and what doesn’t. It’s not just a case of asking for this information, however; to keep people truly motivated you will need to act on at least some of it as well. Doing this proves how important your staff are to you, and will keep them on the lookout for more things to let you know about – it helps everyone in the long term.