12 Ways You Can Immediately Start To Motivate Your Employees Follow these tips to ensure your employees feel seen and recognized.
By Tiffany Hoxie Edited by Micah Zimmerman
Key Takeaways
- How leaders can use a holistic approach to help motivate and inspire their employees.
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Knowing how to motivate your employees is a huge part of having a successful business. It's essential to take a holistic approach to understanding individuals' needs.
In other words, widen the lens through which you view and support your employees and know that everything from their mental health to the office environment is crucial to their success.
Here are 12 ways to motivate your employees.
1. Understand what motivates each employee
No two employees are alike, and what may motivate one employee may not work for another. Is it vacation time? A title change? Monetization? Recognition? A more flexible work schedule? To better understand your employees, you can ask questions such as:
- What incentives are important to you?
- When do you feel most motivated?
Related: Five Ways To Keep Your Employees Motivated
2. Give your employees a voice
It's important to encourage participation in discussions and decisions as frequently as possible or as it pertains to your organization. When employees feel they have a voice in important matters, it gives them a sense of control and leadership.
When employees are left out in the dark, there tends to be a sense of disengagement or disconnection. Giving your employees a voice also helps you obtain insight about your organization you may not have thought about otherwise.
Related: Employees Are Your Company's Voice
3. Encourage employees to collaborate and communicate
Camaraderie is essential in encouraging employees to stay motivated in the workplace. Employees engaging in conversations helps the team build trust. When people collaborate, ideas flow, and staff will be more efficient. Collaboration can also create a thriving culture.
Related: 10 Simple Ways to Build a Collaborative, Successful Work Environment
4. Help your team handle pressure with grace
It's hard to keep a close eye on every project each staff member is working on. One of the easiest ways you can help your team handle stress is to reassure them that you have their back. The better you know your team, the more you will understand who is more efficient with time management and sensitive deadlines.
For those employees who struggle, help them to come up with a systematic plan as to how to handle time-sensitive matters and essential tasks. Once they start to show signs of improvement, this is often when motivation will increase.
Related: Become A Better Leader By Helping Your Team Manage Stress
5. Encourage healthy breaks away from the desk
Encouraging breaks, such as taking a quick walk outside or refilling a water bottle, can ensure employees are not becoming burned out and unhealthy. Healthy employees tend to be harder-working employees.
Taking frequent breaks may seem counterintuitive to productivity, but stepping away can inhibit better work output. Some of the most profound ideas come to employees when they are not stuck at a desk.
6. Share data when necessary
Data isn't only needed for the leaders of an organization. Try to be transparent regarding numbers and data with your staff. Employees feel more in tune with the business when they are in the know. The team should also know if they are exceeding expectations or falling behind.
Try to inform colleagues of answers to questions such as:
- Are the company's goals on track?
- What is the outcome of the most recent projects the company has been working on?
7. Give employees space to grow
Become familiar with the intentions of your staff. Understand where they are headed in their career and think about how you can best support them. Often employees have somewhat of an idea of the direction they want to go in their career but are not exactly sure of the steps to get there.
Related: 5 Ways Business Leaders Can Enhance The Employee Experience
8. Have fewer (but more structured) meetings
When scheduling meetings, ensure that each meeting has a purpose. Don't hold a meeting solely for the sake of having one. Have productive, forward-thinking meetings and discuss imperative topics such as new developments, future goals, strategy, culture, and talent. Always ensure each meeting is a good use of time.
Related: Six Ways to Make Your Meetings More Productive
9. Support your employees with their mental and physical health
How employees feel internally affects their work output. Encourage healthy options and active events. For example, on occasion, offer a smoothie bar instead of pizza. Instead of a happy hour, try in-house office yoga.
In addition, make sure your team knows where to find employee resources, such as where they can receive support for their mental health.
Related: These 5 Affirmations Are Proven To Change Your Life
10. Include peer nominations
Colleagues are usually more involved in the nuances of daily tasks and enjoy feeling seen by their peers. Peer recognition ranks high on the list of what's important to employees and creates team spirit and openness.
To encourage employee appreciation, you can do some shout-outs at the next meeting or use a message board to have employees leave notes of gratitude for other employees. Inspire employees to do this independently, such as grabbing an additional coffee when heading into the office or leaving a note on a desk when another employee has been supportive.
11. Be mindful of the office environment
Surroundings in an office are more important than many of us realize, and they can hinder or increase the success of your employees.
It's important to keep the office clean and well-lit. Encourage employees to take advantage of standing workstations and be sure that there is a space for colleagues to step away from their desks and socialize with others. Depending on the budget, you could add plants or artwork and ensure that technology is up to date.
Related: Working Remote? These Are the Biggest Dos and Don'ts of Video Conferencing
12. Build a culture of honesty, trust and respect
When employees feel respected, they are more likely to be transparent about issues that arise within the company. Take what employees share with you to heart and let them know their concerns are valuable. Steer clear of talking poorly about others and do what is ethical for your employees, the business and the community.
