Motivation, enthusiasm, and engagement are the top qualities of extra ordinary employees who are ready to go the extra mile for their team and company goals.
Paul Nyausaru
In most instances motivation is associated with monetary initiatives yet this is just but one motivational factor. This week I will focus on other factors that contribute to employee motivation. Putting in place such initiatives have proved to provide motivation and have resulted in staff retention for forward looking organisations. The following are some of the motivators that you could consider:
Build a foundation: It’s important to build a solid foundation for your employees so they feel invested in the company. Help employees appreciate the vision and mission of the organisation so that they are part of the future. Ask them about their expectations and career goals, as well as how you can help them feel like part of the team. When any new employee starts, make sure they receive a thorough welcome orientation.
Create a positive environment: Promote an office atmosphere that makes all employees feel worthwhile and important. It is important to avoid creating favourites within your staff. A good manager will always keep office doors open, and let folks know they can always approach him/her with questions or concerns. After all, a happy office is a productive office where productive ideas are generated for the good of the organisation.
Put people on the right path: Most employees always look for advancement opportunities within their own organisations. It is therefore critical to work with each of them to develop a career growth plan that takes into consideration both their current skills and their future goals.
If employees become excited about what’s down the road, they will become more engaged in their present work. So there is need to have a career guidance policy that takes into account the relationship of the employees’ career aspirations and the organisation’s vision.
Educate the masses: Help employees improve their professional skills by providing on-the-job training or in-house career development.
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Allow the employees to attend development workshops and seminars related to their profession. Encourage them to embark on further education paid for by the organisation. Doing so will enable employees feel the organisation is investing in them, and this will translate into improved job performance.
Acknowledge contributions: You can make a huge difference in employee morale by simply taking the time to recognise each employee’s contributions and accomplishments, large or small. Don’t take it for granted that your workers know they’ve done well — be generous with praise.
A simple email of appreciation after a task has been accomplished well will do the magic of raising the spirits of the employee. Surely this takes a few minutes, but it has long term positive effects.
Honour your promises: Getting people to give their all requires following through on promises.
If you tell an employee that they will be considered for a bonus if numbers improve or productivity increases, you’d better put your money where your mouth is. Failure to follow through on promises will result in a loss of trust —not only that person’s trust, but the trust of every employee who hears the story.
Provide career coaching: Help employees reach the next level professionally by providing on-site coaching. Bring in professionals to provide one-on-one counseling, which can help people learn how to overcome personal or professional obstacles on their career paths. Simply realising that the supervisor is recognising the potential in oneself will motivate the employee to do even more.
Match tasks to talents: You can improve employee motivation by improving employee confidence. Assign individuals with tasks you know they will enjoy or will be particularly good at. An employee who is successful at one thing will have the self-confidence to tackle other projects with renewed energy and excitement.
Creativity and innovation: When the power to create in the organisation is pushed down from the upper echelon to line personnel, employees are empowered and those who know a job, product, or service best are given the opportunity to use their ideas to improve it.
The power to create motivates employees and benefits the organisation in having a more flexible workforce, using more wisely the experience of its employees and increasing the exchange of ideas and information among employees and departments.
These improvements also create an openness to change that can give a organisation the ability to respond quickly to market changes and sustain a first mover advantage in the industry Empowerment: Giving employees more responsibility and decision-making authority increases their control over the tasks for which they are held responsible and better equips them to carry out those tasks.
Trapped feelings arising from being held accountable for something one does not have the resources to carry out are diminished. Energy is diverted from self-preservation to improved task accomplishment.
Paul Nyausaru is a Human Resources Practitioner. You can contact him on email [email protected] or [email protected] . Views contained in this article are personal.
