Despite what most small business owners commonly think, money is not most employees’ number one incentive. Of course, everybody works because they need to earn money to live, but it does not mean that they will work efficiently because of their paycheck. Many studies have shown countless ways of raising employee motivation to work more efficiently without spending lots of money.
If you feel that employee motivation is preventing your business from being the best that it can be, be prepared to get everyone back on the right track. Get them thrilled at the direction you want to take your business with these three ideas.
Employees Come First
No business is better than the collection of individuals who are pushing it towards success. The day you first became a manager you became responsible for leading and directing your team members. Part of your responsibility is to notice when someone begins having issues with their performance and coach them appropriately to get back headed the right direction.
If you’re not putting your employees at the forefront of your mind in your business, it’s easy to lose sight of their weaknesses to the point where it affects your progress. Many times in office situations, employees become more laid-back and less focused on their tasks when they feel management is not paying attention to them.
You should establish good, friendly communication with every individual in your office, getting to know each person and identifying their skills and flaws. This way you’ll be able to manage all of your employees playing on the strengths of each individual team member.
It’s much easier for your employees to see your ideas and where you plan on leading the company when you put them first and interact with them regularly.
Take Care of the Work Environment
What does your office look like? The appearance of your office can affect your employees productively. Providing a very “cubicle” focused work environment can make employees feel trapped while opening up the work spaces allows both a friendly work environment and also the ability for team members to work together more effectively.
Awaken the Team Spirit
Although you need to identify each of them as individuals, performing in today’s workplace often means engaging in a good deal of team work. Energize your team members by encouraging them to work together as much as possible and even create healthy competitions between teams. Many times employees feel more motivated to perform harder when they know their results will impact the results of the team members that they work with on a daily basis
Take pictures of star employees and put them on the wall for everyone to see. Put a board beside them and let staff members write their ideas on how to improve things in the office. It will create a more personal bond between you and them and will guide the office in a successful direction.
All of these methods are quite inexpensive (or even free), but will cost you some time and energy. They may even force you to change your approach towards management. Keep in mind though, this is all for the extended benefit of your business. You’re employees are your number one asset – make sure you keep this in mind and treat them as so.
This guest post is courtesy of Lewis Edward. He is an entrepreneur and one of the owners of The Office Providers . As an entrepreneur he has extensive knowledge in management and he offers any kind of office space for small or large corporations. Check his site for more details.
|
Comments 1