Are you motivating your employees? Or are you unconsciously doing things that de-motivate them? As a leader in the office, it is your responsibility to listen to the needs of your employees. If you want to have a highly committed workforce, your workers need to feel heard and valued. There must be conscious effort to keep your employees motivated. A healthy workforce is the surest way to an increased productivity.
The morale of employees sharply declines if they do not feel motivated enough with time. It can continues to deteriorate for years and further affect new and young employees. Managing disengaged and low-morale staff can be a difficult task, however, the below will drastically ensure an improvement in the low-morale amongst staff
Lack of participation: Do your employees have the freedom to operate on their own and make necessary changes to how they work? It’s easy to lose motivation in the office if an employee feels like no one takes an interest in his or her ideas. Consider working to have consistent and direct conversations with teams about what they think can be done to improve efficiency or effectiveness. This encourages innovation and brings out the best in people. Operating an open door policy where employees can voice out will ensure continuous growth of the business. There are new, much better and efficient ways of doing things, employee participation can bring solutions we do not expect.
Need more equity: A motivated employee will feel respected, and will feel as if they are treated fairly when it comes to pay, benefits, and job security. Make sure these areas are satisfactory for your employees. There are too many inequality and disparity in the offices, people are treated differently based on their personality, status and perceived contribution towards the business. People must be respected and treated fairly regardless of their positions in the organization. Leadership opportunities within the business must be based on merit however, female colleagues must also be given equal opportunity to compete with their male counterparts.
Friendship needs improvement: An employee may be performing well individually, but how is their relationship with their co-workers? An engaged workforce consists of strong and productive relationships. Do your employees get along and work together, or is collaboration difficult to come by? Employee spend minimum 8hours on the job, any act that undermines good relationship is bad enough to cause unproductiveness. Relating well with co-workers goes beyond the working environment, we should learn the culture of caring for each other even outside work.
Recognition: No matter how an employee contributes, whether in minor or major ways, don’t be stingy with compliments and recognition. Avoid causing employee distress by being quick to criticize and slow to thank a worker for achievements. Every employee has a positive side and it is exhibited every day in one way or the other in the discharge of the work. Show appreciation for good work done, it could be in the form of email, telephone call, SMS or better still a mention during departmental meetings. It does not have to be financial reward all the time. However, to avoid biases – constitute a reward and recognition system with clear expectation that will appreciate people for their extra-ordinary performance.
Unable to identify purpose: Do your employees know the company mission? More important, do they understand the reasons behind the mission? As an employer, it is imperative that you communicate the importance of the job if you want your employees to be motivated. Instill a purpose that is clear and inspiring.
There are many ways leaders unknowingly diminish the motivation and enthusiasm of employees. When you lead any team, be certain that your policies and procedures are positively contributing to employee morale. The workplace culture must support building a strong and lasting motivation at all levels of the business. Employees are not always motivated by extrinsic reward like money, fame, grades and praise – surprisingly, intrinsic factors like added responsibility, recognition as a valuable resource, feeling self-worth, achieving self-mastery and creating an atmosphere for a sense of purpose are most appreciated by employees.
Source: Bright Ampadu Okyere/www.inc.com | Tel. #: 0244204664 | Email Address: hrtoday@gmail.com
