Employee motivation is something a great number of employers struggle with. Obviously, a small business owner is excited by his or her business; that’s why they’re running it in the first place. However, employees don’t necessarily have the same excitement about (and dedication to) the venture. Therefore, it’s crucial that small business owners find a way to increase that dedication and motivate their staff to work harder and produce results.
If you are one of the many employers who has trouble with this aspect of running a business, this is the article for you. In this piece, we will discuss some of the best ways to help your employees embrace their work with enthusiasm.
Hire Well
The first step in ensuring your staff runs like a well-oiled machine is to hire right. This doesn’t necessarily mean hiring only those with the perfect Master of Business Administration degree or years of experience. Instead, it means finding individuals who are genuinely excited to help grow your business. Additionally, it is crucial to consider the personalities of those already on the team and decide whether or not new hires will mesh well.
Show Your Emotions
People pick up on vibes. If you are excited and enthusiastic, they are likely to mirror those emotions. Because of this fact, it is important that you let your staff know just how much you care about your business. Talk about the goals of the company and help them see and understand your excitement.
Make Work Fun
Nobody wants to go sit at a desk and do the same monotonous work day in and day out. Therefore, it is crucial that you make work fun. Have impromptu donut parties once in a while; make your work day into a game using a gamification software; take everyone to lunch on occasion; or hold a competition to see who can get the most shares when the post about a company on social media.
Whatever you do, be creative! While you do want productivity, you also want the good morale that so often boosts said productivity.
Offer Incentives
Working hard for a simple salary gets stale quickly. While you see and benefit from the growth of your business, your employees may not. Therefore, setting up incentives can be enormously helpful.
The gamification of work mentioned above can give your staff some incentive to get things done, but small rewards such as gift cards, paid days off, and even recognition on the company website can all give them something more to work toward.
Include Them
People are bound to be more interested in moving a company forward if they are personally invested in its success. You can help your employees become more invested in your business by offering each staff member stock in the company. Additionally, including your employees in decision-making processes can help them take ownership of their careers.
Get to Know Them
There are a number of benefits that come with getting to know your employees personally. One of the biggest is an improved ability to motivate each individual person working for you. By getting to know your staff, you will begin to understand what makes them tick. This gives you the distinct advantage of offering them motivation that is specific to them.
Encourage Goal-Setting
Working without a goal begins to feel pretty pointless after a while. On the other hand, working towards a lofty goal can feel pretty discouraging.
These problems can be solved by holding weekly meetings with your staff in which you encourage each individual to set small goals for things they’d like to accomplish that week. By having each person set goals and holding them accountable at weekly meetings, you are almost certain to see some improvement in productivity.
Show Your Trust
Sometimes the best way to motivate a person is to show that you trust and believe in them. After all, isn’t the work relationship more like a marriage between company and employee? By giving your staff your trust, they will likely feel inclined to earn that trust and live up to your expectation by completing their work efficiently and effectively. That said, it should be noted that this only works if your employees genuinely like you and have reason to please you.
By putting these tips and tricks to use, you will be able to increase the output of your employees while also improving company morale and upping the fun factor of your workplace. All of these things combined make for a pretty incredible company where a large number of people will want to work.