Money is not the only motivator. This is a common mistake made by many employers and managers. It may have been one of the reasons to draw staff to the job in the first place and provide that initial bit of motivation, but it isn’t necessarily going to keep them motivated day in day out. The best employers and managers use a variety of different techniques to keep their staff motivated, some of which are included below:
Offer incentives
If the company is used to treating potential or existing clients with corporate hospitality at certain events, why not offer this as an incentive for staff to improve performance? For sporting fans the incentive of Manchester United hospitality may have a very positive effect on their performance. It gives them something tangible to work towards and represents a goal outside their standard salary structure.
Celebrate team performance
Not only should individual incentives be offered, it’s also important to celebrate team performance as the business wouldn’t succeed without all the cogs pulling together. Post performance charts on the wall, throw impromptu get-togethers when a certain goal is hit. Try and show your staff that their continued efforts are not going unnoticed. If they can see how much you value their work, they’re more likely to not while away the hours to simply collect their paycheque.
Communicate with them
Your team will want to celebrate when targets are hit, but they’ll also want to be kept up to date with the day to day goings on and successes of the business. No business can be accused on over communicating and with that in mind it’s important to think of ways you can communicate with your staff. Don’t think along the lines of “no news is good news”; provide regular updates on the progress of the business, but also of each individual’s performance. Send newsletters, memos, emails, and hold one on one group meetings with your teams. Talk to your team members regularly and let them know the business is on track.
Set challenging goals
Most employees strive to achieve what is expected of them, so if you start setting goals which are much more challenging it’s likely that staff will respond to them and work hard to ensure they are accomplished. Remember to keep them realistic, but you’ll be surprised what people can accomplish when given the opportunity to show their skills. By upping their expected goals you’re showing faith in their ability, which is very likely to be repaid. Communicate these goals to individual employees and teams and remember to continually keep them informed on the progress of the company.