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keep your employees motivated with this 9 tips

Keep Your Employees Motivated With These 9 Tips

Keeping your employees motivated still doesn’t mean anything serious in Nigeria. Many Nigerian employers just hire people, expect them to work their fingers and toes off, don’t pay salaries on time while expecting the best results from them. 

The key to a successful business isn’t only focusing on customer needs but ensuring your employee’s needs are also taken care of. Research has also demonstrated and established a link between thriving businesses and happy/motivated employees.

In today’s business world, keeping employees happy doesn’t just make sense – it makes money.

You see, companies rely heavily on their employees to produce and maintain growth. The feeling of belonging gives them a reason to help the company achieve its goals, which leads to increased production.

We’ll start by looking at what motivation really is and why it is important.

What is employee motivation?

This is the level of energy, enthusiasm and innovation that can be seen in your workplace. Nothing groundbreaking happens without motivation. Work does not get done, goals do not get met, there is no profit and your organization runs into trouble. 

Employee motivation has to do with how much you manage the behaviours of those who work with you in a way that produces the best result for them and your company. This management ensures that you get your money’s worth for the labour you employ. A study found out that employee engagement increases business profitability by a whopping 21%. That same study also revealed that motivated employees are 87% less likely to resign. Imagine how much you will save by keeping your employees working with you long term.

Ask questions that help you observe your employees carefully and introduce motivators that you think can help.

There are two types of employee motivation:

Intrinsic – This is an individual’s internal motivation that includes personal deep-rooted belief systems. Such motivation helps the individual to perform really well on the job. In any individual with a deficit of intrinsic motivation, it is advisable to see how you can inspire this in them.

Extrinsic – this is where physical rewards like bonuses, salary increments, appreciation awards, holidays, etc, come in. They motivate employees to be serious about meeting targets as well as taking company goals seriously. 

Why is employee Motivation Important?

It takes more than just paying salaries to keep your employees motivated. This is because people want to feel valued, like they are part of the team, and matter to the business. Every business needs to get their employees looking forward to the next day’s work, which is vital to any company’s growth.

When you know how to motivate your employees, you’ll get the most out of them. Motivated employees tend to work harder and are more dedicated to the company’s vision. They are also more productive and bring more value to the company than look elsewhere for other jobs.

Sometimes, you may have to find a way to motivate an overwhelmed employee and help them grow and feel more valued. It is your role to care for your workforce’s needs and keep them happy. There are many ways to do that, so your company becomes more productive.

How can employees be motivated?

They can be motivated by keeping them engaged with bonding activities, a less formal and stiff environment that makes them more relaxed and induces creativity, among many other ways.

Sometimes, it could be as minute as ensuring that work tools and systems such as internet connectivity are seamless, organizing an employee engagement survey, and providing lunch at intervals. 

Most times, however, understanding all these doesn’t always get results. You often know what to do to make your employees motivated and happy, but making it constant is necessary.

Tips to motivating your workforce
Empower Your Employees

Employees should have managers that work with them at intervals to achieve personal goals. Mentors will help kindle and sustain the motivation workers feel because they feel valued and supported.

Another way of doing this is organizing yearly training in the interested fields of these employees. That’s pretty easy to do these days since knowledge is much cheaper than ever these days. For organizations that do not have the resources to have personal trainers come in, there are online courses your employees can benefit from. 

Encourage and Organize team-building activities

These help employees make connections beyond typical office tasks and see their motivation levels increase. The proper exercise recognizes each group member’s strengths, creates bonds, and celebrates their uniqueness, making them feel more valued. See some of those exercises here and implement some of those.  

Improve team and workplace culture

 Productivity improves when employees feel like valued members of the company. A company’s culture starts at the top and goes down.

A wholesome, yet organized environment makes it easier for your employees to know the rules and the principles of your organization. A subtle way of doing this is creatively decorating your physical workspace with them, or if it’s a remote space, pin the message on the chat and refer to them often.

Create an appealing, modern work environment

 The proper setting is one of a company’s critical motivation strategies. Modern office infrastructure is more attractive than an old building with bad decor and peeling paint.

A company’s work environment should be pleasurable, with enough lighting and a comfortable temperature. Employees will appreciate extras such as a recreation spot or a break room. Asking your employees for their ideas when remodelling can make them realize that you value their input. 

Encourage creativity

Boredom is a great motivation destroyer. Create chances for employees to express their creative sides when working on projects. Please encourage them by inviting them to contribute ideas for new products, branding, marketing. Offer a prize for the winner. Recognizing an employee for extra work goes a long way in boosting motivation.

Applaud their progress

 Giving constructive criticism helps guide people in the right direction but highlighting what your employees are doing right helps too. Acknowledge their deeds in person, both privately and publicly, to show to them and others you’re aware of their hard work and dedication.

Show your employees the bigger picture

Great communication is the key to running a successful business. And to have that, it’s essential to let the employees know about the company’s goals for the future. Keep them in the loop. This demonstrates that their efforts are creating something great for the business and aren’t wasted.

Create friendly competition in the workplace

This will get the workers to step up to the challenge and be more productive while offering them a chance to evaluate their performance. During this period, you will discover the strengths and weaknesses of your employees. You find out which positions suit them the best. 

Ask for employee opinions

 In today’s business world, changes are inevitable. Sometimes those changes tend to weigh down a business’ progress. That’s a great time to involve your employees and know what they have in mind. Occasionally, ask them whether they want to improve their skills to work smarter and better, etc. Asking for their opinion will motivate them to do better.

If your team is fully remote, you can find helpful tips here. And as always, we’re here to help out with your recruitment processes

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