Motivating employees to do their best work is far from a simple task. Even the most adept leaders can struggle with meeting their workers’ needs. However, there are a lot of awesome strategies you can use to create a more engaging work environment to boost employee morale and see excellent output.
A study by The University of Warwick found that happy employees are 12 percent more productive. Keep in mind, your employees spent a good deal of their waking lives at work. The office is like a home away from home. Here are four ways you can make your workplace a more enjoyable atmosphere that motivates workers to do their best.
1. Implement flexible hours and ability to work remote.
Work-life balance has become a very important part of people’s everyday lives. When people feel like they are married to their job, they will inevitably begin thinking about making a change so they can spend more time with loved ones.
For instance, the average commute time in the United States 25.4 minutes. That is roughly 101 hours per year of sitting in traffic. Combine that with undesirable driving and parking conditions, and that is a decent chunk of someone’s life.
As technology advances, the ability to work from home is becoming much more ideal for some employees. This is a small luxury for workers that costs the employer nothing.
“The option to work from home is good for everyone," says Tanner Rankin, CEO of Source Approach. "As long is the system is treated with respect and performance standards are being met, working remote is a great way for employees to ensure they are experience more of life’s precious moments.”
2. Consider making your office pet-friendly.
Pets can make lives more enjoyable in a number of ways. In fact, an experiment done at Central Michigan University found that having dogs in the workplace can increase trust among employees and act as social catalysts. Also, most people do not want to leave their animals at home by themselves all day. As a lot of owners have learned, a lonely, bored pet can get destructive.
Etsy is well known for implementing a dog-friendly office. They strongly believe that letting their employees bring their dogs to work does a lot to keep spirits up while creating a sense of community. “They make people smile almost universally, and I think they allow anxiety to diffuse when they suddenly skitter by,” said Sarah Starpoli, employee manager of Etsy.
There’s no denying that pets can play a huge role in relieving stress. As long as pets can adhere to certain guidelines and behave, a pet-friendly office can do wonders to ease the tension.
3. Deck out the game room.
Having a game room at work is great way for employees to take a break and re-energize. Some experts are convinced that amenities such as ping-pong tables and video games can improve both morale and productivity. Having fun with fellow employees at work can raise commitment values, increase happiness and allow workers to bond outside the everyday stress their jobs entail.
When you’re designing an awesome game room for your office, pick games that need to be played with two or more people. Spending casual time together is essential in creating a good company culture that requires communication and collaboration. Additionally, it gives employees a better reason to stand up and move around. Everyone knows the dangers that come with a desk job -- back strain, headaches, etc. Games that require physical activity to offset the sedentary workday can help inspire creativity and prevent burnout.
Google has a famously relaxed company culture. They strongly encourage an 80/20 rule that allows workers to spend 80 percent of their days doing their primary job, and 20 percent for play and personal creativity.
Play has a big role in the evolution of humankind. The workplace should take this into consideration and promote an environment where employees don’t have to think of their jobs as just eight or more hours of sitting at a desk.
4. Celebrate often.
Letting your employees know that you appreciate them and they are valued can do a lot to boost morale and inspire top-notch work. This can be celebrating a birthday or a simply a good week.
Although this might seem obvious, small gestures that say “thank you” can go a long way. “Generally speaking, when workers know their hard work is being recognized, they are more likely to continue striving to do their best," said Ryan Jones, CEO of VIP Tickets Canada. "Even recognizing the small victories can help maintain focus on what the team is working for. It is a chance to sit back and reflect on what is being done right.”
5. Allow flexibility as much as possible.
84% of working parents said flexibility is the #1 most important factor in a potential job (compared to 75% for salary)! Be flexible about where they work, how they work, and when they work.
6. Give them a chance to lead.
Really lead, not you telling them they are in charge and then coming in and micromanaging everything they’ve done into the ground.
7. Gather feedback for rewards.
Encourage “spontaneous” feedback by providing an incentive. Maybe you send out an email survey to your team, and offer to give those who respond permission to leave two hours early.
8. Give them a purpose.
Employees need to know what they do matters. Are they just tightening widgets, or are they building battleships? Make sure they know what the purpose of their work is, and make it a noble one.
9. Support their new ideas.
You’re not the only one with ideas. Encourage, support, and sometimes even implement the new ideas they have. Whether it has to do with a new window display or trying a new technology for employee scheduling, both the employee and the business can get a lot from simply beta testing a new idea.
10. Insist on work-life balance.
Insist on work-life balance: it’s important. Insist they take breaks. Refuse to allow them to login on their home computer after hours. Whatever it takes. Implementing a digital employee time clock will can help make this an easier transition.
11. Let them see the end game.
Not only do they need to know their purpose, but they need to know what everyone is working towards. Help them see, as much as possible, that the idea of team unity is necessary for that end game. Keep them posted on how it’s going.
12. Give them a chance to rest.
Can you institute a napping time? If you can, you’d be surprised at how many takers you’ll have for it.
13. Be transparent and honest.
In all things, be honest. They can’t trust you otherwise, and it’s hard to work in fear and distrust.
14. Set goals of all sizes.
Have big goals, project goals, department goals, personal goals–whatever it takes. But make sure you have smaller goals that are attainable, otherwise they’ll feel failure and disillusion at never reaching goals.
15. Give each person power.
No one wants to feel powerless. Give them power either by involving them in decisions that affect them, or by letting them try on leadership roles periodically.
16. Focus on individuals, not just teams.
Your employees are people, not faceless teams. Communicate and think of them as such.
17. Have an open door.
Remove any barrier that might keep them from talking to you, whether it’s limited office hours, a fussy personal assistant, or lack of availability.
18. Have a morale officer.
If you’re too busy to be bothered with employee morale, put someone else in charge of it. Make morale a priority. Encourage fun events and revamped procedures so the workplace isn’t drudgery. Make morale so purposeful there’s someone doing it as part of their job.
19. Keep your promises.
Employees can’t trust someone who doesn’t keep promises. And they resent it, especially, if they were promised financial or career rewards. Broken promises demotivate immediately.
20. Let them be unique individuals.
This is about respecting personalities. For example, your ideal open workplace may be torture for an introvert. Respect their individual nature as much as you can and accept that your ideals may not be theirs.
21. Listen to them.
Look them in the eye, know and use their name, ask questions, and respond appropriately. Take to heart what they say. Take action on what they say.
22. Provide free and helpful services.
Bring in a personal trainer, an accountant at tax time, or a chair massage professional. Find a service that your employees would love to have access to once in awhile, and offer it to them for free there at work.
23. Start workplace traditions.
Give them something to look forward to, something that is unique to their place of work. Holidays are a tradition for everyone. Make traditions in the office that they can call their own.
24. Send hand-written thank you notes.
Writing a real note on real paper and sending it to an employee means much more than just another email. It means you took the time.
25. Make sure everyone gets a mentor.
Maybe not everyone wants a mentor, but make them available to those who do.
26. Use reward points for useful things.
Set up a point system for your reward program that employees can use for useful and tangible things, such as cash gift cards, appliances, travel, etc.
27. Avoid boredom.
You might take comfort in routine, but it may feel like a boring rut to your employees.
Be purposeful about spicing things up, changing things around. Move the office furniture, bring in different caterers, paint the walls a different color, change the weekly schedule. Just avoid mind-numbing sameness.
28. Provide healthy food.
Birthday cake is fine once in awhile, but make fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt, and other healthy foods available. Stock your vending machine with healthy options.
29. Pay them well.
Pay them the most you can. Pay them what they’re worth, and then some if possible. Simply not having a payroll blunder is something employees love. Link your employee scheduling app to your payroll app and make things easy for you and always correct for your employee.
30. Don’t fear change.
Change can be good or bad, but don’t fear it. If you fear it, you’ll be pitted against your employees who are motivated to try new things. Embrace it and see where it leads.
31. Help employees reward each other.
Create a system where employees can let you know of the good work or attitudes of their coworkers. Let them feel the pleasure of knowing they helped another get a reward.
32. Celebrate personal milestones.
Remember birthdays, hiring anniversaries, and any other achievements they’ve accomplished outside of the workplace.
33. Send them to leadership training.
Give them a taste for the leadership world. Even if they are not in a management position, consider it training for the day when they might be.
34. Give them stock.
Make the health of your business matter to them by giving them stock through an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP).
35. Let them bring pets to work.
If possible, let them bring pets. This is not appropriate for all businesses (e.g. restaurants), but if it is, make it so.
36. Communicate clearly what you expect.
Don’t be afraid of confrontation. Don’t be concerned about making everyone happy. You must communicate your expectations clearly. This helps them feel secure in their job in the long run.
37. Help them continue learning.
Offer to pay part of tuition, or send them to classes and training. Offer free accounts for online courses. Build their confidence by helping them learn more.
38. Set an example.
Be the kind of leader they want to follow. Walk the talk. Work harder than they do. Make it clear to them, by what you do, that you don’t ask anything of them that you don’t ask of yourself.
39. Be purposeful about encouraging creativity.
You can say you love creativity, but do you do it? Insist on practicing it through creative outings, exercises, group events, and even designated creative areas where they can express themselves with games, writing, art, etc.
40. Love laughter.
If your team is laughing, that’s a good thing. Don’t reign it in.
41. Make unity a serious goal.
Are all your goals about productivity or finances? Don’t forget to include unity. A team that is unified ultimately produces more and builds your business. Have a plan for measuring and keeping unity front and center.
42. Make rewards achievable.
If your incentive and reward system takes impossible work to achieve, it isn’t really a reward system. Make it easy to begin reaping benefits of small rewards so they know it is possible and they continue on to the larger rewards.
43. Stay on the cutting edge.
Junky equipment? Outdated computers?
Nope. Keep the tools your employees use as close to the cutting edge as you can. Using the best tools is exciting and instills pride in employees.
44. Offer promotions and bonuses.
Employees should benefit financially, and in their career, for great work, loyalty, and continued success.
Not every position has an opportunity for advancement. This is discouraging for employees. Find a way to create advancement through tiered pay levels, additional responsibilities with corresponding title and salary adjustments, and so on, even if it isn’t truly moving up the ladder. There must be a sense of forward career movement.
45. Discipline and correct privately.
Never, never, never shame an employee in front of others. If there’s a problem, deal with it in private. Never yell, take down, or criticize an employee while others are looking on.
46. Praise in public.
Conversely, make praise and recognition a public thing.
47. Reward safety.
Give incentives to those who practice safety in the workplace. Make safety valuable.
48. Stand by your team.
The customer may always be right, and your boss may be trolling for blood, but you are to protect your team. They need to know you believe in them, trust them, and will protect them from anything ugly and undeserved.
49. Avoid nepotism.
Nothing destroys motivation like knowing you won’t get promoted because you’re not a relative or you haven’t been there as long as other employees. Promotion and reward should be based on hard work, qualifications, and excellence. Anything else is demotivating.
50. Use what works, not what’s popular.
The latest management fad isn’t the right one. Use what works with your employees, not the techniques someone far removed from your business tells you is the hot, new trend.
51. Ask employees what they want.
Not sure what they want? Try asking them. Everyone loves to share their opinion.
52. Get everyone to participate.
Not everyone participates in events and meetings the same way. Personalities and courage vary. Find a way that makes everyone comfortable to participate. Don’t cater to the loud and bold only.
53. Be fair. Be neutral.
Skip the emotional response. Avoid favoritism. Don’t make conflicts or challenges worse by lifting one up and putting another down.
54. Use team building activities.
Since unity is your goal, regularly hold team building activities. Make sure they’re fun, and seem like a reward in and of itself.
55. Work beside your employees.
Are you always in your fancy front office? Get down in the trenches and do the same work alongside your employees sometimes. Understand what they experience.
56. Create rewards that are unique.
Maybe you don’t have a pile of money to hand out as an incentive. Find other ways to reward employees that are unusual and inexpensive.
57. Reward groups that have done well.
Focus on the individual is vital, but you also want to motivate teams and groups. Reward them for a job well done using group incentives.
58. Make feedback safe.
Make it easy for employees to leave feedback. It shouldn’t always be in a face-to-face employee review meeting. Use the old fashioned suggestion box if you must.
59. Bring in teachers.
Bring instructors and experts into the workplace. Provide free and valuable training right where they work.
60. Reward healthy living.
Healthy workers aren’t tired, worn out, and taking sick days. Have a system that rewards healthy choices, such as biking or walking to work, or using a 15-minute break for a quick walk. Give your employees a FitBit and hold a competition for who walks the most steps each month.
61. Do not patronize.
Insincerity isn’t motivating. It’s insulting. Make sure your praise is genuine and free from any form of manipulation.
62. Guard the workplace culture carefully.
Don’t assume your great workplace culture will naturally flourish. Take its temperature regularly and find any bruises.
63. Learn what de-motivates.
Some people are motivated by rewards, others by praise, and still others by a job well done. Blanket motivation techniques don’t work, and may do harm in some cases. Tailor your efforts for each person.
64. Give them an allowance.
Whether it’s an allowance for books, decorating the office, or sprucing up their cubicle, give employees a set amount each year.
65. Give them professional development training.
Send them to training that teaches them not only about job-specific topics, but also on things such as procrastination, being debt free, time management, and so on. Help them be successful people, on and off the job.
No comments:
Post a Comment