Employee Motivation – The 8 Basics

Building a team of motivated people in your business is vital to get the very best results, but so many managers focus on the ‘ra-ra-ra’, rather than the important things – the things that make people feel comfortable in their working environment. Here are eight that you might want to have a think about:

1. The Weather

Is it too hot, or too cold. Your people need an environment which is, like Goldilocks said, ‘Just right’. So is the office too stuffy in summer? Or too icy in winter? Is it draughty? Do people get wet when accepting deliveries, because the outside roof leaks? Literally make sure that external factors are as they wish.

2. The Breaks

Sometimes working in a day-to-day job can get boring and exhausting. So people need to know when their breaks are and that they wil be able to take them – it’s not that complicated. Yet often, they just aren’t able to have this basic courtesy in place. Planning and caring for your people’s needs is vital. It’s what you would want for yourself, isn’t it?

3. Holidays

And vacations/holidays are important too – some would say it’s the most important thing on the working year calendar. So enable this to happen, when they need to know, so that they can plan their invaluable time away from the business and refresh.

4. Being Heard

Your people need you to listen to them and hear them – really hear what they are saying and respond with action and/or acknowledgement. Be out there creating good, open relationships with your people and take in what they say – what’s important to them – and deliver solutions to make conditions great.

5. Achievable Goals

By being really, really clear about what you expect from your employees, you will set the scene for committed staff. Through knowing exactly what their performance should look like to be judged excellent, by you, gets buy-in, big-time. So be clear, give them the resources to achieve success and they will be well onside.

6. Being Thanked

As they do a good job for you each day – tell them. It’s easy – just say ‘Thank You’! Appreciation for achieving success, especially when it’s from the boss is so important. So recognising excellent performance, even for small tasks, cost nothing and takes but a moment – worth building into your day job activities – every day!

7. Challenge

People like to do new things, to explore, to seek out and utilise their potential, Sometimes this means they will have to be ‘stretched’ in what they do. With a helping hand, to support, coach and grow the skills of your people, you are setting in place a keen, ambitious and ready-for-the-next-experience star in the making. So find new ways to develop them.

8. Security

In today’s business climate, it isn’t always easy to build the best future consistently – things change too much, too quickly. But you can go some way to ensure that it is a safe place to be. With this level of security, your people will loosen up and feel capable of being with you, rather than against. It is a measure of your own leadership as to how well this works.

…helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow…