Stephanie M. Ellis, CTIE
In any business there always seems to be some people who are really plugged in and love their job, others that are productive, but aren’t fully engaged and then some that seem to want to be somewhere else altogether. As a manager or business owner it is easy to become frustrated with the employees that aren’t preforming as well and wonder how to get them motivated. When you really look at the issue you need to see if there is a possibility it is not the employee at all, but perhaps something else altogether.
Get to know your employees as individuals
Before you can understand how to motivate your employees you must first get to know your employees on a more personal level. You need to understand why they aren’t working up to their potential and what is standing in the way of their engagement. Get to know their likes and dislikes. Do they enjoy working with others or do they prefer working alone? Do they have a busy family life, are they lonely, is money tight or are they desperately needing a vacation? Often you will find the answers without probing questions, but by just having a conversation with them and showing interest. Taking the time to get to know them can help show the employee that you value them.
For instance, if you have an employee that trends towards intrinsic motivation they will not do well if you are giving them public praise or recognition when they would prefer a quiet, genuine show of appreciation because they do not want or need a public show, they know that they put thought into their task and for someone else to take note is important to them. Tell them that you noticed the creativity or thought that they put into a project or assignment; do it one on one though because they enjoy feeling personally fulfilled instead of group recognition. This type of motivation powers their self-esteem and in turn gives them personal satisfaction which will feed their desire to earn more genuine acknowledgement from you. However, if you have an employee that responds more to extrinsic motivation you will want to make sure that you publicly let them know that they are doing a great job by giving them tangible recognition. Their motivation comes from pleasing others and they prefer being recognized in a more tangible way. Things such as certificates, gift cards and public praise can work wonders when trying to motivate an employee of that nature.
Taking the time to know your employees is beneficial in many ways and it doesn’t hurt that it also helps you learn what motivation works best for them.
Look at the team, is it fractured?
Often the issues lie beyond the individual employee. Too many times unhappy employees are created by poor team composition. It is human nature not to enjoy being around some people. We all have people that we enjoy and those that we prefer to stay away from. These dynamics are present in any group of people working together. Try pairing an employee with someone that they enjoy and work well with, more often that not this motivates both employees to do a great job because they enjoy working with people that they get along with. When you pair two or more people that do not get along it can create a tense environment in the office, and not only will productivity suffer so will morale. Sometimes you may not have an option on team makeup, but in those situations it is very important to make sure that everyone on the team feels that they are valuable part of the company so that during challenging times they still feel appreciated.
What about these other common issues?
Are your employees bored? That may seem like a silly question, but really…are they excited about their job, are the challenged, do they look forward to coming in every day? Boredom can be a very large contributing factor to non-motivation. Most people like to be mentally challenged, doing the same thing repeatedly can drain an employee quickly. Work with the team to come up with a project such as forming a committee to explore and report the expected travel trends for the next year and how to capitalize on them. People in the travel industry love learning and getting excited about new destinations, use that to engage creativity and put down boredom.
Do you offer any type of incentive? People typically enjoy contests and the prizes that go with them. Offer movie tickets, additional comp time, a fully paid FAM or any other host of things for the employee that closes the most business or gains the most clients in a quarter. There are numerous ways that you can have a contest and offer prizes that will increase productivity and motivation.
Lastly, have you looked at yourself and your style of management? Do your employees trust you as a leader? Are you open, honest and show your team respect? Are you flexible when needed to adapt to your employee’s needs? Or are you demanding without care, rigid in your management style and give your employees the impression that you do not care about their successes any only your own? Being a manager or business owner is not always easy. It is important to take the time to know what makes your employees tick and what motivates them. Taking a little extra time to build confidence within your team will go a long way to making them feel valued and in return they will want to work hard to please you. All in all, creating a dynamic and productive work environment for everyone.
Bibliography:
Chavanu, P. (2009). Motivating the Unmotivated: Understanding the levers that leaders can pull to motivate employees. Retrieved 2 26, 2020, from http://digitalcommons.du.edu/ucol_orl/8
Herzberg, F. (2003). One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 2 26, 2020, from http://hbr.org/2003/01/one-more-time-how-do-you-motivate-employees/ar/1
Iftikhar, F. (2014). Performance Appraisals: An effective tool to motivate employees. Retrieved 2 26, 2020, from https://knigozal.com/store/gb/book/performance-appraisals:-an-effective-tool-to-motivate-employees/isbn/978-3-659-63887-9
Kruger, J., & Rootman, C. (2010). How do small business managers influence employee satisfaction and commitment. Retrieved 2 26, 2020, from https://actacommercii.co.za/index.php/acta/article/view/114
Soden, D. L., & Lovrich, N. P. (1988). Motivating the unmotivated state employee through workplace participation: research note from a pre- and post-intervention panel study. International Journal of Public Administration, 11(1), 91-115. Retrieved 2 26, 2020, from https://tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01900698808524580
