A 2015 SHRM Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey found that only 69 percent of employees felt that they were consistently putting all their effort into their work. And your organization is not immune to this lack of employee motivation—whether you’ve committed some employee motivation no-no’s, or you’ve done everything right and just need some new creative thinking for methods, there’s always room for improvement. Check out these do’s and don’ts of motivating employees and see how they fit in your organization.
We’ll start with the don’ts—if any of these sound familiar, then you might’ve already found your source of poor employee motivation. But don’t be discouraged; we’ll have a list of do’s next so you can correct and improve your workplace motivation.
- Don’t be emotionally stingy. People appreciate praise and knowing they are valued.
- Don’t lose your temper. No one likes being on the receiving end of an irate, yelling boss, and lost tempers can lead to lost loyalty.
- Don’t take credit for a project your team did most of the work on. Give credit where credit is due, or you may not receive the same level of performance the next time around.
- Don’t ignore the Golden Rule. If you don’t remember from kindergarten, the Golden Rule states, “Do unto others as you would have done to you.” If you expect your team to promptly return your messages, do the same for them.
Now let’s take a look at the do’s—unique techniques from entrepreneurs that you can apply in your own workplace motivation methods.
- Let them know you trust them. – Ayelet Noff, Blonde 2.0
- Set smaller, achievable weekly goals. – Nicolas Gremion, Free-eBooks.net
- Learn what makes each employee tick so you can motivate individuals rather than the whole team. – Heather McGough, Lean Startup Company & Ross Resnick, Roaming Hunger
- Have an open-door policy. – Justin Beegel, Infographic World, Inc.
- Show your team the bigger picture. – Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc.
- Create recognition rituals. – Christopher Kelly, Convene
Your employees may not be as motivated as you are yet, but as long as you have the drive to motivate them, they will be soon.
For more information on motivating employees, contact Talexes.
