The past two years provided challenges never before experienced and many employers are now wondering how to motivate their teams for the long haul.
In our Recognition series we share tips and advice to help employers retain and reward talent.
Whether you are trying to keep your business afloat or have thrived during the pandemic period the first step is to acknowledge the challenges and celebrate even the small wins.
Reflect and Reset
Taking a moment to reflect and reset is vital to motivating people for the long haul.
People are motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically. Intrinsic motivation is internal and comes from engaging in behavior that makes you feel good such as working on a passion project. Extrinsic motivation is external and comes from wanting to earn a reward such as a bonus or avoid a consequence such as a layoff.
Research has shown that internal motivation is more effective in achieving results as it’s tied to “why.” Having a purpose is an effective motivator.
At this time of year, many employers are setting ambitious goals for the year ahead but need to find ways to motivate employees. As a manager or leader, there are several steps you can take to create a sense of purpose and inspire motivation within your teams.
Share your future vision.
Communication makes employees feel important and recognized. Start by regularly communicating goals, financial results and long term initiatives, which provides people with a vision of the future and where they fit in to the plan.
Create a vision statement, a picture of your organization’s desired future and share it with employees. This creates an understanding of where the organization is going and encourages commitment to your vision.
Create realistic and purpose driven goals.
Many people are motivated by a strong desire to make a difference but get bogged down in goals that don’t add value. Focusing only on the bottom line can leave people feeling like they’re just part of a numbers game. As a leader your role is to link goals to a purpose and the overall vision.
Build meaningful relationships with your team, which helps build trust. Make it a priority to get to know your people so that you can mentor and coach them along the way. Meet with each person on your team and help them understand how their goals contribute to the future success of the organization.
Recognize and reward your people
Employee recognition and employee engagement are tightly linked. When someone feels appreciated and is recognized for their contributions they will be more connected to the work, to their team and to the company.
Recognize and reward the behaviors you are trying to encourage. People who feel recognized and respected for their contributions are more engaged and will work at a higher level. Invest in your people by showing that you actively care about their goals and are willing to help achieve them - provide learning and development opportunities. Actively eliminate or reduce practices that don’t add value; invest in technology to help people work smarter and eliminate repetitive manual work. Create an employee recognition program to show your appreciation and gratitude.
Reevaluate Goals Frequently
If a goal is not met, don’t punish. Instead seek to understand why this happened. Reevaluate goals frequently to ensure they’re still relevant. If business conditions have changed for the better or worse, acknowledge the current situation and reset expectations moving forward.
Motivating employees requires taking an active role to draw out the best in your people. Taking these steps will help ensure commitment for the long haul.
This article is part of our Recognition series; tips and advice to help you retain and reward talent.
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