How Employees Can be Motivated on Workplace

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In today’s competitive scenario professionals should be ready to add on to their skills and learn new things if they wish to see an increase in their pay and perks. Companies should also ensure workplace learning if they wish to remain competent and benefit from their existing workforce. However, in the absence of motivation, workers may not show any readiness for workplace learning. Employers should therefore show readiness to offer some sort of motivation to their employees if they want them to adapt to a new system, skill or process. Here are some factors that can help motivate employees on work.

Competence Enhancement

Today, companies need to be on toes to adapt to new technologies being discovered in their country or even anywhere in the world. Companies that become complacent or are reluctant to change become a loser in this competitive world. Hence, companies must forever be ready to adapt to changes and keep their employees motivated at all times. This can be facilitated by offering work-based learning or by creating an environment where workers are taught the importance of using new technologies to stay competitive in the marketplace. Companies can also set incentives to further encourage workers to be open to workplace learning and enhance their competence.

Win Promotion

Many times, workplace learning is associated with promotions. Companies have appraisals and evaluations which are often linked to promotions. Getting promoted means better salary or wages. Hence, when workers know that a promotion is in offing, they will give their best. As a result, they will make an effort to learn and ensure that learning is translated to good performance, so that their evaluation and appraisal reflect it and they improve their chances of being promoted.

The Necessity to Hone Existing Skills and Acquire New One

While old skills are always needed, workers need to also realize that learning new skills makes them employable and marketable. For instance, today mobile-friendly websites are in vogue and this has created a need for website developers who can create mobile-friendly websites. Hence, workers need constant learning to enhance their knowledge of the latest trends, so that they can be updated with the world around them.

Increase Job Worthiness

When a worker has a lot of experience and knowledge, it is a benefit. This can open up many job opportunities for the worker. It allows the worker to change jobs for higher salary which otherwise would not have been possible had the worker stayed satisfied with his old skills. Hence learning new skills and being aware of prevailing trends in the industry can help open the door of many new opportunities.

To Adjust to New Technologies

Today, technology is being ubiquitously used at the workplace. To be an effective worker, a person needs to learn this new technology. A good example is book keeping. Previously, accounts of a company or business were done manually using a book to maintain the ledger. However, now businesses have shifted to computer-based accounting systems. Hence, an employee needs to learn new things at the workplace to make work life easier and simpler.

Ensure Learning Happens Without Affecting Productivity

Learning goes with productivity. Companies have policies and procedures in place that direct employees to upgrade their learning. This can be offered by the company in a structured way where training classes are held and trainers teach workers to fill the gap that is present or it can be worker-driven where the employee informs the company that he/she is interested in learning certain skills or acquiring knowledge and seeks permission. Either way, it should be ensured that the learning takes place in compliance with the directives set forth by the company. While the aim of the learning should be to enhance employee knowledge and skills to make them more productive and effective at work, care should be taken that learning should not overshadow the employee’s productivity or pose an obstacle in performance.

Image Courtesy : U.S. Army

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Posted In: Adult Education, Career News, Employment Agencies, Tips for Employer

Tagged: employee morale, employee motivation, how to motivate employees, motivate employees, motivation for employees.

Sanjeev Bagal

Employee Motivation – The 5 Master Keys
for Success

How to build employee motivation by creating an environment that rewards excellence at every level…

Employee motivation is a mystery for many managers. But, it doesn’t have to be. Instead, understanding how motivation impacts employee performance, and understanding how to use motivation to improve performance can be reduced to five master keys. Organizations desiring to improve employee motivation need a system in place that consistently rewards employee achievements. I’m always surprised how few organizations have such a system.

However, not all employees respond to the same motivations. Each person has his or her own likes and dislikes, passions, interests and desires. The role of the successful manager is to learn how to identify what motivates each employee, and learn how to leverage those motives to simultaneously fulfill the goals of the organization, as well as the goals of each employee.

The five key employee motivation factors include: satisfaction, appreciation, recognition, inspiration and compensation.

1. Employee Motivation By Building Satisfaction :

In their book “The Service Profit Chain,” James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard Schlesinger make a compelling case that regardless your business, the only way to generate sustained profits is to build a work environment that attracts, focuses, and keeps talented employees. In other words, they have to be motivated to show up, get committed and perform at a level of excellence.

Employee motivation as it relates to employees satisfaction is vitally important. And, it goes way beyond just a “happier workforce.” Why?

Because there is an undeniable link between satisfied, motivated employees, and satisfied customers. In other words, focus on creating satisfied employees, focus on employee motivation, and those motivated, satisfied employees will take care of your customers.

2. Employee Motivation Through Genuine Appreciation

At times, managers unknowingly sabotage employee motivation by failing to recognize the positive behaviors and achievements of their employees. As a result, employees don’t know whether or not they are doing a good job.

I recently had an employee of an organization tell me, “The only time we ever hear anything from management is when we do something wrong!”

Fortunately, savvy managers can improve employee motivation by rewarding employees with personal attention. This can include a pat on the back, a hand-written note, or a quick comment in the hall.

When showing appreciation, be specific. Instead of just saying, “We really are grateful for the good job you do around here,” the approach might be, “I really appreciate how you handled the Franklin Industries account last week when we had to get their rush order out late Friday afternoon. Your effort really made a difference.”

By being specific, the employer comes across as much more sincere, and the employee realizes their actions are truly being watched. And, a highly level of employee motivation is the natural result.

3. Employee Motivation Through Recognition

Many people will do for recognition what they will not do for money. And, this is the manager’s secret weapon for employee motivation. Some people are motivated by the opportunity to get their name on the wall, receive a trophy at an annual banquet, or see their name in the company newsletter. It gives them an “emotional payoff” for their actions.

Look for ways to increase employee motivation by recognizing excellence in the workplace. Ring a bell every time an individual or team hits the production target. Put up posters with the photographs of team members who have had the most days without accidents. Give out awards for attendance records. Just do something. It is so inexpensive, yet highly effective in your efforts of employee motivation.

4. Employee Motivation Through Inspiration

Inspiration comes from leadership. This form of employee motivation includes the company’s mission, purpose and goals. People want to be part of an organization that is going somewhere, that stands for something, and that provides a meaningful service to the marketplace.

If you want to lead an inspired, mission-guided organization, follow these steps and watch employee motivation improve dramatically.

Have a clear mission – in other words, know where you are going.

Be excited and passionate about your mission. After all, if you don’t get excited, they won’t either.

Be able to communicate the mission, it’s value to the marketplace. In other words, why it’s worthwhile.

Make sure everyone in the organization understands and can communicate the mission.

Be sure employees understand how they fit into the process of fulfilling the organization’s mission.

Make the connection between the mission and the individual values and goals of your employees.

Keep your mission in front of everyone in the organization.

5. Employee Motivation Through Compensation

Some employees are motivated by money. In fact, most are motivated by money; at least for their basic needs. Employee motivation through compensation can come in the form of raises, performance bonuses, commissions, profit sharing, or any number of “extra benefits” like, automobiles, vacations, or other tangible items purchased and used as rewards.

I noticed an interesting program in a hotel where I recently stayed. They have a sophisticated system for rewarding employees based on customer feedback. Throughout the hotel, they have placed customer feedback forms and boxes for depositing the forms. When customers comment on the performance of a hotel employee, the employee accumulates points that can be used to purchase rewards like trips, gifts, and other incentives.
- Kat
  
  Thank you for the interesting read Florence Lewis and your comment Sanjeev Bagal. I agree with you that recognition is a very important part of employee motivation. It can enhance the working spirit within your company even without spending money on compensation gifts and vouchers.
  
  Me and some colleagues just started a new business and thus money for raises, bonuses and commissions is scarce. Instead we pursue the idea of motivation though recognition. We regularly send out thank you notes to employees. Thereby, we experienced how much a little “Thank You” can do in ensuring better relationships within the company.
  
  In order to send those notes I regularly use ‘Email for Business’. I recently downloaded the app for my iPad and I am amazed by how easy and fast it is to send out notes to employees. I guess that this is one of the most appealing ways to thank employees for the good job they have done.