10 Tips to Motivate Your Employees
Bring The Passion Back Into The Workplace
1. Walk your talk. - Instead of talking about better communication, start communicating better.
By developing open two-way conversations that are energetic and contagious, your employees will feel comfortable to speak their mind. Make sure you listen to what is not being said. Include employees in meetings to get their perspective. Make your meetings interesting by surprising your employees with a new incentive or a message of appreciation. These ideas show that you are not just the leader, but one who really cares.
2. Be supportive. - Discuss the weaknesses in the system without blaming individuals. Look at employee wish lists and follow-up with their requests. Ask them what they need from management to feel more valued. Employees need to know that their concerns are being heard. They need not only constructive feedback, they also need positive comments.
3. Be a leader with vision. - True leadership requires foresight, integrity and trust from both sides. Leadership liberates employees, by giving them direction and letting them do the job. Set up periodic reality checks to evaluate their progress, to make sure they are moving in the right direction.
4. Use straight talk. - Straight talk means being able to communicate without alienation or hurt feelings. Many managers have found straight talk to be very difficult. They cannot communicate criticism or compliments without feeling uncomfortable. Managers and employees need to learn to be direct and truthful. Encourage straight talk by thinking about what you really want to say, writing it down and practicing it. After you've practiced, how do you feel about yourself? If you feel good, try it with your employees.
5. Build supportive teams. - Build teams within departments, and throughout the entire company, to allow an open discussion of dreams and obstacles. Remove job descriptions that keep people stuck in a box. Reward employees who help others and contribute to the company as a whole.
6. Encourage creativity and laugh at mistakes. - When employees aren't afraid to take risks, their creativity will soar. Feeling “in” on things is still a major concern of employees. They have great ideas, yet are afraid to voice them. This is such a waste of possible solutions to key challenges of a company. Front line employees have a different perspective and must feel comfortable to share their ideas.
7. Empower employees to feel liberated. - Managers and employees need time alone, time to think creatively. Intense and important work requires reflection. Companies that are obsessed with productivity usually have little patience for the quiet time essential for profound creativity. An element of fun lifts morale and increases productivity. Have each employee bring in his or her favorite dessert one day, and listen to the laughter begin. Ask them what they need to do in order to improve morale.
8. Help employees feel comfortable with change. - Learn how to start over and let go of ideas that may have worked in the past, but are no longer effective today. Remind your team that status quo is the kiss of death. We need to constantly look for new ways of doing business. The minute that someone says how good you are is the minute you need to improve. Companies that fail start believing in their own hype! Confront today's challenges while simultaneously probing new opportunities. Eat change for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
9. Insist that employees always keep the customer in mind. You have a lot of competition. - Make sure your employees know why customers keep signing your contracts. Realize that curiosity will always lead employees down new paths.
10. Keep employees focused on their cheerleaders and fans. - Have your employees make a list of ten clients or co-workers that are thrilled with them and the way they conduct business. Ask your employees to figure out new ways to service their clients to help them in any way they can. Employees will shape their own future as they build relationships with their fans.
Source: Cpsa
Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.
Business consulting for women entrepreneurs in Houston.
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