It is often said that your greatest asset walks out the door at 5.30 every evening – the question is what do YOU do to ensure they walk back in the next morning motivated, engaged and ready for the challenges ahead of them?
The truth of the matter is the number of demotivated employees outweighs the number of motivated ones. Take a look around most offices, shops and places of work and check out the faces to realise that the problem is epidemic and no one is doing anything about it.
Your employees are the most valuable assets your business has, no matter the industry. They are the people who on a daily basis influence what and how a customer thinks and feels about your business. Keeping employees motivated, happy and engaged is one of the keys to business success. Follow these tips to boost employee productivity and retention.
- Start from the head down
If you are reading this article you probably are the owner or manager of a business – ask yourself what is your own motivation and attitude like? And would you work for you? Michael Gerber author of the E-Myth quoted an old saying ‘the fish stinks from the head down’ – he is right. All you have to do is watch how an employee interacts with a customer, if they are intolerant, unfriendly and dismissive you can be almost guaranteed that is how their boss treats them. Lead by example and promote a positive, efficient and enjoyable work environment. Good humor is infectious.
- Empower your staff
An employee who feels micromanaged and underutilized will lose interest fast. To motivate these types of individuals, give them more responsibility. Doing so will help them feel in-control, important, trusted and vital to the business’ success. In turn, they will feel a lot more motivated! Accept that they will make mistakes but the key is what they learn from the mistakes or better still train them so there are little or no mistakes being made in the first place which ultimately comes down to the systems and process in place in the business.
- Build a fun work environment
If your office is a fun place to work, you’ll attract and retain more hardworking employees. After all, salary isn’t the only reason people choose to work for a company. Everyone wants to feel happy, fulfilled and part of something bigger which is exciting. Show your staff that you care about their well-being.
- Improve company communications
Without a doubt improving internal company communications will go a long way to improve morale among employees – the last thing they want is to hear about something after the event has happened and as a ‘by the way’ comment. Communicate with them often and in particular through face-to-face or group meetings. They need to know they are valued members of the business, what is expected of them and the things that are happening which will have a direct bearing on their future.
- Reward individuals and teams
One of the best ways to motivate people is through appreciation and by providing them with an opportunity to improve their future and wellbeing. Introduce an incentive scheme where employees and teams can work directly toward a pre-determined goal resulting in a reward for all. This is an opportunity to be creative and inspiring. You want the reward to have a direct result on morale and productivity while improving the bottom line.
According to a recent report by Hays Ireland, 81% of Irish employees are looking to change jobs over the next two years. Now more than ever business owners need to focus on staff retention and incentives in an increasing competitive market environment. The employers who invest the time and energy in their employees making them feel valued and a critical part in the success of the business will be rewarded tenfold.
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