How to Motivate Workers as an Employer
When you have your own business, you are invested in it far more than you can expect your employees to be, yet you can create a workplace that attracts and retains talent that matches the quality of your product or service, with workers motivated to play a major part in the overall success of your business. Here are some proven ways to motivate your employees.
Have a clear purpose
Motivate employees by giving them a purpose. As an employer, your purpose at work may be largely focused on commercial value. Yet, for employees, purpose is about their work having meaning, where their contribution made to the business and society is understood. Having a clear vision of how their daily work fits into the company leads to a sense of commitment to the task and a sense of being an integral part of the organisation, knowing the work has a positive impact.
Reward achievements
Create goodwill by rewarding key milestones or goals. Recognising your employees’ successes creates a sense of accomplishment as well as accountability. Set realistic goals that will lead towards more lofty ambitions, so focus on getting 100 new customers within a set time and reward the team with an afternoon off or something else they would appreciate.
Perhaps the most important reward is for those ending many years in the workforce and looking to draw on their pension. Search out the best retirement gift ideas online to find something that best suits the individual. This shows the rest of your staff that you appreciate hard work, loyalty and the friendship that comes over the years.
Know your employees
Listen to your employees to find out what their goals are and how you can invest in their professional growth whilst also respecting their personal schedules and non-work time. Listen to the ideas they have for your organisation and answer the questions they have about your business. Ask what they like working on and which bit of their work they do not like so much.
Trust your employees
Share your company goals and listen to any ideas that can help you get there by working together. Trust them to run with an idea they have, your confidence in them will rarely disappoint you. Make sure individuals take turns to lead the conversation and the topics discussed so that all ideas are aired and potentially worked on later.
Trust works both ways, so be honest with your employees about what’s happening in the business so everyone has a chance to ask questions and give feedback. Feeling included sustains motivation and allows individuals to commit to the direction the company is taking.
Encourage work-life balance
If one of your employees is involved in charity work, see if your company can be some support, or set up your own charity that encourages your employees to be involved in something outside of work. This creates a good work-life balance and is another opportunity for your employees to spend time together away from work and build strong friendships.
For an established business
If your company has existed for a while, you can implement plans without it coming across as a new gimmick from higher management. Speak candidly with a few employees from each department to find out what your culture is lacking or do a survey of the entire organisation. In this way, you will get valuable information about the problems your strategy will need to address, whilst also signalling to employees that you genuinely care and want to create an environment that helps them do their best work.
