An autocratic, authoritative management style no longer works for motivating the modern employee. It takes a little more finesse and strong people skills to reach today’s millennials and make them feel that their contributions are valued.
Here are a few employee motivation tips that can help you improve motivation in your organization:
Provide constant communication and honest feedback
Employees who feel neglected may begin to wonder if the boss really values their contributions. Keep an open dialog with your staff members and provide regular constructive feedback to let them know exactly where they stand.
Continuously train your workers
In addition to helping employees keep their skills up to date, providing ongoing training makes them feel you are interested in helping them achieve their career objectives.
Don’t skimp on the praise
Virtually everyone wants to be recognized for doing a good job. Always acknowledge the times when a staff member has gone above and beyond the call of duty.
Keep the job fresh and interesting
Boredom can reduce motivation and even lead employees to seek opportunities outside your company. Help your staff find ways to take a fresh approach to repetitive tasks and seek their input as to how they can make their job more challenging and interesting.
Encourage creativity
An extremely effective employee motivation idea is to encourage your staff to think outside the box and take “reasonable” risks. Refrain from criticizing them if their new course of action doesn’t always work out — instead, help them find ways to learn from their mistakes.
Manage change effectively
Change is a constant component in today’s workplace. Many employees feel intimidated or become frustrated with change. You can overcome this by being supportive while a major change is underway.
Keep it positive
There will always be times where you will have to provide a negative critique of an employee’s work. By framing criticism in a positive manner and helping the employee develop a plan for correction or improvement, you can achieve motivation without ruffling feathers.
Interject some fun
Perhaps one of the most overlooked employee motivation principles is allowing people to have fun at work. This doesn’t mean you have to make work one giant party, but simple things such as introducing friendly competitions or playing a work-related game now and then can go a long way toward keeping employees motivated. It can also help to foster more of a team environment.
Start implementing these employee motivation ideas today, and you will begin to notice a big difference in the productivity and morale of your workforce.