Motivating employees is one of the great challenges of being a leader. People come to work with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, personalities, and education. Additionally, life challenges, such as a family crisis or something as simple as a bad night’s sleep, can affect how an employee shows up at work.
Leaders have often resorted to the carrot-and-stick method to motivate employees. A carrot, or reward, is given to an employee if they exceed an expectation of the job. The proverbial stick would be used if an expectation is not met or an employee underperforms.
While such an approach may work in the short term, the method does not produce long-term results. If it were so easy, just paying someone more should guarantee motivation, which it does not.
So, what are the best ways to improve employee motivation? Here are three strategies:
Recognize Their Accomplishments
Employees will be more motivated and engaged if they are recognized for their hard work. Simply put, people appreciate it when their leader and others acknowledge a job well done.
Such recognition can take many forms, including a spot bonus, gift card, or day off. Even a simple thank you acknowledging the task they accomplished can have a major impact.
Help Them Develop New Skills
Employees want to learn and grow. When employees gain new skills, their self-confidence grows, and they are more motivated because they can contribute more to the organization. Whether it’s a training course, coaching, cross-training, or job shadowing, development can happen in various ways.
Identifying professional development opportunities can be part of a collaborative goal-setting process between managers and employees.
Communicate Their Importance
In his best-selling book Drive, Daniel Pink said, “The most deeply motivated people — not to mention those who are most productive and satisfied — hitch their desires to a cause larger than themselves.” Employees will be motivated to exceed expectations if they find purpose in their work.
Finding purpose or meaning in work implies that one’s work matters. It’s knowing that what you do helps the organization reach its goals. A recent McKinsey and Company survey found that employees feel most motivated by goals that are a mix of individual, team, and company goals.
But, often, employees don’t think their work is having an impact on their team or the organization. How motivated would you be if you thought your hard work wasn’t important?
This is where a leader can make a difference. It’s imperative for a leader to connect the dots and help their employees understand how their work contributes to the success of the organization. Such communication, which needs to occur regularly, will help employees understand their purpose and lead to increased motivation and engagement.
Engaged employees can help an organization meet its goals, and having people who are motivated will lead to engagement. The good news is that the approaches mentioned above are behaviors that can be learned and developed by any leader with a desire to motivate their employees by creating a more positive work environment.
At Employers Council, we have several classes that can help leaders become more effective at motivating and engaging employees, including the following:
Mark Castillo is a human resources consultant for Employers Council.