7 Employee Motivation Secrets Every Manager Should Know
A recent survey posed by HR Magazine suggests that low employee motivation is hindering economic recovery in the United Kingdom. Consultants Mercer’s commented this survey found employee motivation appeared to have decreased by as much as 17% since 2006.
This report suggests, that one of the main contributors to this worrying trend is something they call a “reward perception gap”, where managers are misunderstanding just what drives their staff. They often believe what keeps staff motivated, and loyal to a company are bonuses and career development, and underrate the value to workers of base pay, job security and work-life balance.
There’s no doubt a busy manager’s job is a tough one. If employee motivation takes a dive, a team can turn against the corporation. Cambridge County Council recently worked on increasing employee motivation with 18,000 employees. After seeing improved results, they stated, “18,000 ambassadors are better than 18,000 assassins.”
Finding ways to engage staff more effectively is rarely wasted effort.
So, what can you do as a manager to increase employee motivation?
1. Survey your employees. One quick and easy way to find out the level of current employee motivation is to ask your employees. By using confidential surveys, you discover employees’ needs and have a basis on where to start motivating your employees. But use these wisely! There are some “do’s and don’t” to using surveys! See a previous blog post for some key tips about getting surveys right!
2. Talk to your employees about the results. Once you receive the surveys from your employees, talk to them about what you have learned. When you include your employees in the discussion about the problems, you will already engage them to find solutions. Staff who reported honestly and openly in the surveys will give more details in the meetings.
3. In tough and challenging times, set aside more time to listen to your employees. Whenever an employee has an issue, make time to listen to them. Busy managers might find it hard to make time for employee motivation, but listening to an employee is a big way to make positive change and communicate value to a member of the staff.
4. Be positive! Know what? I often say, when it comes to managing, “heat and kitchen” come to mind! Sometimes, we, as managers, are feeling the pinch; are struggling to remain up-beat in difficult circumstances; but if you can’t summon up any enthusiasm or positivity, then how can you expect your team to? this. Just by having a smile on your face, you spread good energy. If you are grumpy, you will spread this attitude. While it’s impossible to be in a good mood all the time, make the most of it and have fun. By adding humor throughout the day or to mundane tasks, you instantly increase employee motivation.
5. Have meetings often – both 1-1 and as a team. Many change experts recommend whatever time you set aside to meet with your employees prior to any major changes, you should double it when things are getting tough. This is not about having meetings for meeting’s sake; this is just about checking in on goals set, results for the company, and giving an opportunity for your staff to discuss any specific issues. By often meeting with your staff, they stay engaged and feel a part of the team.
There are many facets to employee engagement. Don’t always assume there’s nothing you can do just because you can’t pay bonuses or give big pay rises. There are actually many other tactics you can employ to increase employee motivation – and many of them cost you absolutely nothing at all – except a little of your time! See a great, true story, I heard from a manager at one of my workshops at this blog post: Why an MD Missed a Trick to Motivate His People.
Are you struggling with employee motivation and morale right now? For 40 extremely practical tips, techniques and tools to help you motivate staff in the most difficult of circumstances, as well as an easy quick survey tool and activity you can run with your team to get you started, see “The busy manager’s guide to staff motivation: 40 simple tips and techniques to improve employee motivation in tough situations.”
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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:
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