A question I’m often asked by business owners is ‘How do I motivate my employees?‘.
The first question I ask the business owner is what THEIR motivation is. Motivating your employees is certainly a worthy pursuit, but that motivation needs to start at the top -with you, the business owner. You need to be enthusiastic and motivated about your own business so that you can demonstrate your own commitment to achieving your businesses goals. You do have goals don’t you?
So let’s look at some of the methods that some businesses use to motivate their employees.
1. Fear
You would be surprised how common this one is. Some employers use fear tactics such as the threat of a pay cut or termination of employment to try to motivate their employees to work harder or do better. Others simply yell as a way to try and motivate their employees. These methods work some of the time – but usually only in the short term until the employees fear turns into resentment. Fear is definitely not a good long term motivator.
2. Recognition
Almost everyone likes some form of recognition. Whether it be a mention in the company newsletter, an employee of the month program or even a few kind words from the boss. There are few things quite as satisfying as being told you are doing a great job.
3. Cash
Surprisingly, cash isn’t the most effective motivator. Cash bonuses can be effective in keeping your employees motivated, but not necessarily in making your employees MORE motivated. To increase employee motivation you are going to need a program with a little more depth than a cash bonus.
So What Does It Take?
So, if fear, recognition and cash aren’t the ideal motivators then what is it that a business owner needs to do in order to motivate their employees?
First up, you need to set a good example. If you’re not motivated and enthusiastic about your business and its future then that’s going to be pretty obvious to your employees.
Your motivation program should allow the employees to share in the success of the company. This can be done in several ways. If your company is listed on the stock exchange then you could give each employee a number of shares and perhaps increase that shareholding if an employee is named employee of the month. You could set aside a percentage of your monthly or yearly profits that will divided amongst your employees. Be creative and come up with your own program that helps grow your business AND rewards your employees.
Make sure your employees are happy. Zappos is recognised as one of the most employee friendly businesses out there and one of the core reasons for this is their business culture that encourages employees to be involved in the business, to be creative and adventurous and to have a little bit of fun. They don’t pay the highest salaries and they don’t offer some of the perks that other companies offer. Instead, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has as one of the Zappos core values the concept of ’employee happiness’. That may seem a little strange but the Zappos culture is all about making employees and customers ‘feel really, really good’.
Be proactive about employee complaints. In many businesses employees simply won’t voice their concerns or complaints for fear of stepping on toes, being labelled a ‘whiner’ or attracting the wrong sort of attention from the management. The reality is that if your employees have something to complain about, but they aren’t telling you, then it may well be doing damage to the overall morale in your business. You should be looking for signs that employees are unhappy. Don’t just be the boss – be a friend and mentor and encourage other management staff to be the same. If an employee looks unhappy then the chances are that they have an issue – and a simple question such as ‘You don’t look very happy today, is something troubling you?’ can reveal issues that you otherwise would never have become aware of.
These are just a few of the things that you can do to improve employee morale and really motivate your employees to help you grow your business. Never forget that motivation starts with the business owner, so if you want a motivated workforce then you need to have your own head in the game!
