How can you motivate your employees?
This is a question I get asked all too frequently; it’s a common problem for all managers. Everyone faces the challenge of dealing with demotivated or disengaged employees on occasion and I have had my fair share of such problems over the years. At best, having to deal with a demotivated emplyee can be frustrating, at worst it can push you over the edge. Today, even when running training courses I am faced with the problem. Let me give you an example of what I mean….Recently, during an ideas session on how to improve business performance, which I was running for a small hotel company, one talented, but extremely de-motivated employee, surprisingly suggested several positive things which would make a difference. When I later asked him why he had not previously told his manager about these ideas, his response was fairly blunt, but very revealing: “I don’t get paid from the neck up”.
Here was a guy who was so de-motivated that he saw his role as being to do, but not to think. You might wonder why he stayed, or even why he was allowed to stay, but the fact was, he was there and was not contributing as much as he could to the business. Although an extreme case, he is far from alone; respected national and international research commonly shows that as few as 30% of employees are actively engaged in the companies they work for. It is a disturbing thought and not something to be ignored; lack of employee motivation is a hidden cost and it is simply not possible to achieve business goals or deliver excellence unless employees roll in behind that ambition.
There is no magic pill for motivating employees of course, but from comparing best practices seen in companies where motivation is high, I have come up with a list of twelve factors which all leaders need to be concerned with:
Leadership
It should be obvious that no one thing will, on its own, fully address the motivation issue, but I have noticed that when leadership is strong, motivation levels tend to be higher, so effective leadership is certainly the most critical first step. As well as their own capabilities, to really motivate you people, you also need to consider the remaining drivers:
Culture
Culture is intangible for sure but it has a major impact on the feel or climate in any organization. Whilst there is no ‘right’ culture, there are certain environments which build motivation levels, whereas others do the opposite and you can play an important role in building a culture which draws employees in rather than pushes them away. How would you describe the culture in your business at present? Is it condusive to motivating people?
Composition
Composition relates to the make-up of teams and you need to pay close attention to how you recruit people. Employees do not necessarily all have to like each other, nor will they, but there must be a general ‘fit’ between all members; otherwise it is hard to engage them because who wants to work alongside a bunch of people with whom you have little or nothing in common. How much thought do you currently give to who your recruit into your team – beyond what they can do to who they are as individuals?
Clarity
Clarity in this context means ensuring that your employees understand both aspirations and expectations. Aspirations relate to the big picture and, as a basic building block of motivation, you need to help your employees to fully understand where the organization is going and how they can contribute to that. Clarity is also required as to what is expected of employees, as nothing will destroy motivation faster than conflicting directions or shifting roles and responsibilities.
Competence
Competence contributes to the overall levels of motivation in a number of ways. First, most employees want to build their skills and talents at work, so to increase motivation, you need to ensure that there are relevant and regular opportunities for personal development. Equally, all employees should be similarly competent at what they are expected to do. If not, others in the team have to take up the slack and this creates resentment, or worse still conflict, which can chip away at motivation levels.
Cooperation
Levels of cooperation in teams are both a driver of engagement and a reflection of it. When people work well together they build bonds and trust increases; this in turn improves general motivation levels because most people prefer to work in collaborative environments. How strong are cooperation levels in your team currently?
Control
Controlling how individuals behave within your team is critical to motivation because when certain team members are allowed to step out of line without consequence, this serves as a de-motivating factor for other employees as they question why they should bother. Equally, too controlling an environment stifles engagement because people sense a lack of freedom and autonomy.
Communication
Communication is always key to the levels of motivation seen and where communication is regular, open, two-way and more importantly effective, employees tend to be more motivated. How effective is communication in yout team?
Challenge
For most employees having a sense of challenge in their work is vital to how motivated they feel . When work seems repetitive or mundane, employees naturally feel less engaged so leaders need to find ways to introduce a sense of challenge for employees. Is it challenging to work for you?
Conflict
The manner in which conflict is managed can have a major impact on how motivated employees are likely to be. Constructive conflict, which leads to new ideas and better solutions, should be encouraged, but well managed, so that employees feel that they can speak their minds or contribute in an appropriate manner. Destructive conflict, on the other hand, which adds no value should be dealt with promptly by the leader; a failure to do so will impact engagement levels as most people hate to work in a poisoned atmosphere.
Compensation
Compensation in the broadest sense is about people feeling rewarded for the contribution they make. Pay and conditions of course an important element in this, but things like constructive feedback and positive recognition when deserved are just as powerful in terms of building motivation levels.
Change
How change is managed can also impact on the levels of motivation seen. Too little change can result in stagnation which destroys motivation, yet too much of it, or too much meaningless change can simply frustrate employees and causes them to disengage.
Apart from raising your own game as a leader, you must also pay close attention to these factors because in doing so you will not only build the motivation levels of your people but, more importantly, this will in turn lead to greater productivity and ultimately better results. You should understand that nothing can ever truly be achieved if your employees do not buy into the aims of your business and that lifting each individual’s level of motivation, even by a small amount, can make a big difference; you should recognise the value of individual contributions or as Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, once said, ‘If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito’. Ever motivated employee you have can make a major difference to your business…
Enjoy your day!
