As an employer, one of the things you need to make sure you do is keep your employees motivated. They are the backbone of your business and the better motivated they are to work well, the more will get done and the higher level of income you will make. If you neglect to take care of your employees, they won’t put the effort in and your business won’t be as successful. You are also much more likely to have a higher staff turnover which can present a plethora of issues in itself. To fix this, make sure you do what you can in order to keep them motivated and happy. Here we look into 5 top tips for how you can do this and ensure your business is a success.
By Team Savant
Image: Ecaterina Madeline
Why is it important to keep your employees motivated?
There are many reasons you want to keep your employees motivated. Keep in mind the phrase “you’re only as good as your worst employee” and the less motivated they are, the worse it can reflect on your business. You want to keep your employees motivated so:
There is a lower staff turnover: The longer your staff have been with you and the more loyal they are, the better a place it is to work. You won’t need to keep training new people and they will all know the ropes and get on well.
Your employees get more work done: The ultimate goal is to get more work done and that’s what keeping employees motivated will do. They will put out more of what they get in.
It’s a more positive working environment: No one wants to work somewhere that is unfriendly and where morale is poor. By keeping up motivation, the atmosphere will be much more pleasant to spend time in.
Production levels are improved: The more motivated employees are, the harder they will work and the more work they will produce. This can help you to bring in more money and the business to succeed and do well.
How can you motivate your employees?
There are many ways to motivate your employees and get them to succeed. Some of these include:
Find Out About Their Goals And How they Wish To Progress — Then Help Them Achieve This
It’s important to speak to your employees and find out what they want to achieve and how they wish to progress within the company. By showing them that you take their career goals and aspirations seriously, they are going to feel more motivated to want to achieve this. Let them know what they can do in order to get promoted or to take on a new role in the business and help them work to get there. This could be through offering training days, a mentorship or regular reviews — all will be greatly appreciated going forward.
Recognise Their Achievements
There is nothing more demoralising than working hard on a project only to have it not even acknowledged by your boss. To combat this, make sure you regularly recognise their achievements — both the larger and smaller ones. You could acknowledge it with an incentive such as a cash bonus or letting them finish work early. You could also send an email round or give them a mention in a meeting, letting the rest of the company know about it. This can make them feel valued and increase the chances of them wanting to work as hard in the future for the same gratification.
Give Them the Right Tools To Succeed
If employees are constantly having to battle things such as outdated IT systems, slow equipment and uncomfortable work stations, this can cause a drop in motivation. Instead, equip them with everything they will need to succeed. Take a look and compare programs such as Dynamics 365 vs Salesforce to find which is best for improving your sales processes for example. You could also offer company laptops and phones if they do a lot of their work from home or when on the road.
Offer Team Building Days
The better and more close knit your teams are, the better they will all work. After all, it’s much better working with a colleague that feels like a friend as opposed to a stranger. In order to help this happen, offer team building days where your employees can get to know each other that bit better. There are a host of different team-building things you can do, from organised events by an external provider, to heading out for dinner together, to a wine bar or something such as an escape room.
Make Your Workplace A Positive Place To Spend Time
Another great way to help motivate your employees is to make your workplace a positive place to spend time. This involves decorating it nicely and ensuring there is plenty of natural light. Add in plants and pictures on the wall — all of which improve the feel of the place. Make sure there is a nice space for them to have lunch and to relax when they are on their breaks. You could also provide perks such as tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
These are just a few things you can do that can help to keep your employees motivated and invested in your business. By creating a positive work culture and place to be, they will be more excited to head into the office every day and want to do what they can in order to succeed. When you have a workplace that’s negative both in terms of its overall feel and the mood of the employees that work there, it can really impact how people work. If you measure the difference once you start implementing these changes, you’re sure to soon notice a correlation in things such as a rise in the number of sales.
Do you own a business? If so, what are some of your top tips for motivating your employees to get them to succeed?