3 Employee Motivation Secrets Your Leadership Team Needs to Know

Do you ever find yourself struggling to motivate your employees?

Are you often looking for a solution that inspires and motivates your team to go above and beyond the call of duty?

While this problem is fairly common, it can be immensely frustrating and difficult to remedy. In this article, you’ll find three secrets to employee motivation that will help your leadership team boost morale and productivity and inspire others to do the same.

Secret 1: Invest in Their Skills and Development

Hiring employees for their skillset is an unspoken indicator that the talents they possess are valuable to the company.

During the months following the time they are hired, employees tend to work their hardest to live up to the expectations of their new employer. And while no one wants to do a sub-par job, it’s not uncommon for employees to lose the initial spark that kept them motivated to work hard when they were first hired. However, by continually investing in their skills and development, you can keep their passion to work hard alive.

From the moment you hire new team members, you should start investing time, energy, and resources in their skills. This will enable them to be productive employees throughout their tenure with your company. The more your leadership team recognizes the importance of employee development, the more motivated your team will be to strive for greatness—and to make the company more successful in the process.

Secret 2: Foster Flexibility and Freedom

One of the most powerful secrets you can share with your leadership team is just how beneficial it can be to allow your employees the flexibility to complete their work, projects, and tasks free of micromanagement. Consider giving your employees more control over when and where they can work. Having more freedom and flexibility will not only encourage employees to act responsibly, it will also motivate them to stay on track.

Similarly, consider structuring your work environment so that employees have more say over the types of work they do and the projects they choose. Your leaders might be surprised to find that by offering more flexibility in the workplace, employees can add their own unique touches to certain tasks and better utilize the skills and resources that got them hired in the first place. Again, by encouraging your leadership team to open the doors of freedom and flexibility, you will increase your chances of fostering a fun, relaxed, and creative work environment that drives motivation, innovation, and productivity.

Secret 3: Reward and Recognize

While money still reigns supreme when it comes to workplace rewards, monetary incentives aren’t the only way to keep employees motivated and inspired to give it their all.

First and foremost, it’s important to realize that men and women don’t always have the same experiences when it comes to rewards and recognition. Along with wages and leadership roles, there also seems to be a gap between men and women when it comes to things like gifts, rewards, and recognition, so remind your leaders to be fair and equitable when it comes to dishing out these perks.

A recent survey by BambooHR uncovered some interesting statistics about rewards and recognition in the workplace. Here are a few highlights from the survey:

• Employees across the board prefer to be contacted in person by both bosses and peers when it comes to receiving recognition for a job well done.
• Nearly a third of employees think that having their good performance highlighted on a company-wide email is better than receiving a monetary reward.
• Positive recognition is directly correlated with how happy employees are at work and their level of motivation.
• Along with monetary bonuses, employees tend to prefer things like pre-paid credit cards, extra vacation days, retailer gift cards, brand-name products, verbal recognition, gourmet food, plaques, reserved parking spaces, and trophies or medals.

If you can tap into it, employee motivation can be a powerful asset for your business. Learn more about employee development and how to help your team reach its full potential with CMOE.