Do you have a team of motivating and motivated employees? No? Maybe you have had a high performing team in the past, but lately results are down, and morale seems to match. Are your people coming to work and just seem to be going through the motions? If you’re witnessing a lack of engagement, focus and productivity, before you look to more serious measures, try these tips for motivating employees.
Set clear goals (and expectations)
If employees know how their role contributes to the overall success of the business, they’re more likely to engage in what they do day to day and feel motivated to achieve results. Regular performance reviews, or project meetings where you refresh or reset goals are valuable for employees.
Provide regular feedback
There’s no need to wait for the annual performance review. Employees appreciate well communicated feedback and direction. Remember to praise publicly but keep disciplinary matters private or as well as feedback around poor performance.
Ensure your pay rates are fair and reward employees
It’s common for people to connect their rate of pay to their value in the business. While we know that determining pays across the team includes many complex factors, conducting a pay review or independent salary benchmarking can help ensure you’re paying correctly.
There are other meaningful ways to reward employees aside from their pay and if you have roles that are eligible for bonus, ensure any incentives are linked to clear and achievable targets.
Assess the environment people are working in
Coming to work in a dark, cluttered, noisy or disorganised space is not going to motivate anyone to do their best! Provide adequate storage and organisation, clean spaces, fresh air and natural light where possible to get the best out of your people.
Provide opportunities to collaborate
When you have a project, whether that be rearranging the staff lunchroom, running a committee, or tendering for a big job, select a group of individuals to work together that may not otherwise work together in their day to day work. Make clear the outcome required and if needed, provide some suggestions around roles, and then step back and watch as people discover new things about their co-workers and learn new skills to help them in their own roles.
Stop micromanaging
Providing support to help people achieve results is important but there’s nothing more de-motivating than feeling that your every move is being critically assessed. It can become a real time drain for managers, but micromanaging has a huge impact on motivation at work. If you like to check everything, and be involved in all the details, be sure you’re not also punishing people for mistakes – better to identify the causes, the lessons learnt, and make a plan for improving then move on.
Avoid unproductive meetings
Employees often complain about wasting time in meetings that deliver no value and where they feel they have nothing to contribute. It can disrupt the flow of otherwise productive work and drain time away from more meaningful activities. Keep meetings on track and productive by having a clear agenda, set timeframe and making sure those in the room really do need to be there.
We hope these tips are helpful reminders and get your team back on track. If you need more support motivating your team or improving morale, get in touch with our specialist team.