What is Employee Motivation?
Employee motivation is the level of innovation that a company’s staff hold during their working day.
Maintaining and improving employee motivation can be a problem for companies. As not every task will be of interest and excitement to those who are being asked to complete it.
Therefore, businesses must work to find ways to keep up the motivation levels of their staff.
Why is Employee Motivation so Important?
If you picture an employee with low levels of motivation, they are working at a slower pace and spending more time away from their tasks. They may be occupying themselves by surfing the web or spending time on their phones.
This has many effects, with the most detrimental being the knock-on effect on other employees. Potentially holding back the entire company from producing work to the highest standard or meeting important targets.
On the other hand, a motivated employee is enthusiastic, driven and takes pride in their work. They accomplish tasks quickly, take action and want to do a good job. Both for themselves and for the company.
Whether your company is currently at the top of its game or building its way up, employee motivation remains critical at every level. The second employee motivation drops, revenue and company accomplishments follow close behind.
Benefits of Employee Motivation
Higher productivity levels
If people are motivated to work faster and more efficiently, this will lead to more output. This can enable your company to do more, or even sell more.
More innovation
Not only will the company produce more, but motivated employees are likely to make the work even better. Being highly focused on the product or service, motivated employees will see areas for improvement and will be driven to work to enhance these.
Lower Absence Levels
Motivated employees are happier with their working lives, and have a goal to be working towards. These employees are less likely to miss work without good reason. This can lead to lower training and recruitment costs for the company as employee churn is reduced.
Great Reputation and Stronger Recruitment
We are all aware that people talk about the things they enjoy, and more notably, the things they don’t. Satisfied workers spread the word and in turn, give the firm a good reputation as an employer. As a result, it becomes easier to recruit the leading talent in the industry.
So, how do you improve employee motivation?
Lead with Vision
Everyone wants to know that their efforts are driving towards something. What’s the next step? What does success look like for the company? A destination helps to motivate the journey, so make sure the vision for the company is clear.
Make sure everyone understands the ‘why’
Your employees know what needs to be done, but do they know why they do it? The why is the overall mission of the company. If everyone knows why their individual actions benefit the overall goal of the company, it brings much-needed motivation to even the simplest task.
Set frequent clear targets
You have big targets to meet, but smaller goals are the key to motivation. All goals should add to the overall target, but breaking those down feels less overwhelming for your employees. If employees are hitting frequent targets, the feeling of satisfaction grows and will act as a great motivator to continue on to the next set of goals. For example: You can start with trainings and attach a goal to them.
Recognise great work
Employees need to know that leaders see and appreciate their efforts. Giving well-deserved recognition increases self-esteem and therefore boosts morale.
Create a welcoming work environment
No one wants to work in a dull and gloomy office, desperately waiting for home time every day. If a workplace creates a friendly culture, with areas for rest and play, employees will look forward to coming into work.
Since motivation and mood go hand in hand, a poor mood can affect the ability to concentrate and will lower the feeling of energy in the workplace.
Encourage Teamwork
Collaboration between teams in the company allows ideas to be developed further. Working with those with different skill sets will create more innovative results.
There is power in numbers, and anyone experiencing a lack of motivation should be boosted by those around them.
Create a Career Path
No one wants to be at a standstill for too long. We all want to know that we are going somewhere and focus on that next step. Ask employees what they want from their career, and layout what they need to do to get there.
Have those important growth conversations with team members to design a career path. This will help to create a drive to reach the next stage and feel that they have a long and productive journey ahead within the company.