Employee Motivation can sometimes be as distant and irregular as finding an exciting documentary on medieval architecture.
There is, however, plenty that you the employer can do to ensure motivation is on tap throughout the workplace. Here are 5 sure-fire ways to get your employees stimulated and enthused.
1) Award System
Good work should be rewarded, and the fact that we’re all adults now shouldn’t mean we should stop receiving awards and titles for being good at what we do.
Try setting up an ‘Employee of the Month’ system or something similar, wherein you place the title upon the person who has done the best job.
Dedicate a wall to showcasing this person and, if that is not enough to jolt your employees into action, you could even throw in a gift. Presents really do make the world go round.
2) Be More Personal
If there is a consensus in the workplace that you don’t seem to care about those below you, then it’s hardly surprising your staff aren’t keen to come to work.
Try getting to know each person by having a chat. If they feel that they have a friend in you, they are going to feel working for you is a pleasure and they’ll want to give you good results. Consequently though, this will mean you’ll have to send out lots more party invites than you did before.
3) Office Decor
Offices tend to be comprised of cramped cubicles, bland colours and paperwork. If this is an accurate description of your office, then you should consider that this is what is sapping enthusiasm.
Invest in opening up the work space environment so that each of your employees can work together much more effectively, and a new colour scheme with some eye-catching plants will animate your staff to feel lively whilst they work. This is all straight-forward enough, which at least means you won’t have to hire any expensive Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen types.
4) Dress Down/Costume Days
Day after day of wearing business attire can be a drag and very uncomfortable for a lot of people. They spend the majority of their work time day-dreaming about getting home and jumping into something much more comfortable, focusing their mind on pyjamas instead of business.
Allow your employees to select a day in which they can opt in to dress down. These casual days will create a relaxed environment for your staff to unreservedly work, as well as giving them an opportunity to flaunt their true style. You could take it a step further with themed days, allowing your staff to wear goofy costumes around the office and have a good laugh. Nothing too distracting obviously, so steer away from the Adam & Eve theme.
5) Specialities
The office can be like an ant colony, where you’re all working for the cause of the business and there is little or no time to take some time out to reflect on what makes you an individual.
You should allow each of your employees to bring in something which will remind them what makes them unique and special.
If someone is a book lover, allow them to bring in a selection of the books they see as most inspirational. This will really help your employees feel motivated, because they themselves have provided a beacon of pleasure-inducing hope.
During these tough times, motivation amongst the workforce has to be maintained and nurtured by employers. You may not want to think about what office plant to pick, award walls or silly costumes, but you are responsible for your staff and these simple ideas really do work. If they don’t, at least seeing you try and fail will provoke a motivational response of sorts!
Have you got any good ideas or ways to motivate your employees? Please do share them down below!
About the Author
Ben Kettlety knows what it is like to be a lackluster employee, and wished his employer had been able to come up with a plan of action after looking through posts like this one.