The entrepreneurial fire may be burning strong inside you, keeping you motivated each day to give your best for your company. However, you may not say the same for your employees.
In fact, one survey showed that in Europe, only 15 percent of employees feel engaged at work. On a closer look, the employee motivation statistics are even more alarming in the U.K. Statistics have shown that the number is down to 8 percent and is noticeably decreasing over the years.
Keeping employees motivated is not an easy task. Many entrepreneurs and even managers have to think beyond incentives to find more creative and dependable ways to motivate workers.
This said, here are proven and tested techniques to keep your employees motivated.
1. Gamify and Provide Incentives
One of the best ways to keep employees motivated and engaged is through gamification. This is a growing Human Resource trend that utilizes the digital environment to guide employees in achieving goals and objectives.
When we hear the word “game,” we tend to associate it with a mindless waste of time. But games are not at all like that, especially if they are business-oriented. Through gamification, employees learn new skills, new ways of problem-solving, and new behaviors. The consistently positive feedback in gamification helps increase employee motivation.
2. Show Your Trust
Showing your employees that you trust and depend on them goes a long way. Based on experience, it is hard to strive for success in a working environment where the atmosphere reeks of distrust, disengagement, and uncommunicativeness.
But if you show your employees your vote of confidence, you will be surprised how they are willing to go above and beyond their duties and tasks. People love to perform well in an organization where they feel valued. That is a fact.
3. Set Realistic Smaller Goals
Every business has a lofty ambition. But, employees can get overwhelmed if you right away bombard them with your elaborate grand design. Instead, set up small achievable goals along the way to keep everyone on the tab.
For example, instead of setting up a goal of generating a million revenue this year, turn your focus on getting more customers each week in order to help you achieve that revenue goal.
Afterward, never forget to reward your team for helping out achieve that goal. When everyone feels involved, recognized, and rewarded in the end, everyone puts in their best efforts.
4. Give a Sense of Purpose
As often repeated in countless employee motivational advice, giving employees a sense of purpose helps a lot in keeping them motivated. Doing so allows them to understand your vision better further guiding them in executing their tasks properly.
These are some of the ways how organizations can give their employees a sense of purpose:
- Show how the tasks assigned to them impact the projects you have.
- Offer opportunities for growth and learning like seminars, training, and the likes.
- Provide opportunities for your employees to collaborate with others or stand as mentors.
5. Emanate Positivity
An office with a positive energy vibe never fails to keep everyone feeling motivated and happy. Studies have shown that companies fostering a positive work environment have fewer reports of employees calling in sick or coming late for work.
Even experience could attest to this. No matter how hard a project may be or how bad in the mood you are, when everyone around you feels happy, satisfied, and enthusiastic, you will also feel that way.
6. Foster Transparency
Studies have shown that management transparency fosters creativity among employees. The more transparent leaders are in the organization, the more employees are motivated at work.
Sharing information to everyone in the company, revealing reasons behind management decisions, and unmasking what the leaders truly feel about issues gives employees a sense of psychological safety. As a result, employees become more trusting and feel more included in the bigger picture.
7. Individualized Motivation
It is always about team motivation that we read on articles, hear on podcasts, and see on videos. But, individual motivation should never be left out of the picture. Each member of the team is a stakeholder. A stakeholder must have a clear and personal understanding of how each one’s contribution benefits everyone on the team.
8. Value Work-life Balance
Remember your employees have lives too outside of work. Part of keeping them motivated is by recognizing the fact that they also need as much time to be away from work and work-related stuff.
Need to double-time on a marketing task? Outsource instead. There are several outsourcing companies and reputable film production firms that can cater to your company’s needs. An organization that gives value to work-life balance tends to enjoy increased productivity and overall satisfaction in the workplace.
Keeping your employees motivated benefits everyone in the company. Take time to check your organization’s motivational scheme and make necessary changes to adapt to the changing times.
