If you are a business owner or manager of a staff you probably ask yourself often “how can I motivate my employees when they are at work?” In talking to small business owners I find that this is one of the top questions asked. All business owners would love to have a staff that is self motivated to do a fantastic job, but we must remember that employees feel and see things a bit differently than the business owner/entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are self-motivated by creating something from nothing, which is intrinsic motivation or internal motivation, they are just created that way. The employee, sees and feel things quite the opposite, they are usually motivate more by external stimuli or extrinsic motivation, such as a raise, job security, benefits, etc. These things are usually short-lived and therefore make it an ongoing venture for the business owner or manager to keep finding more ways to motivate their staff (which can be a tiresome task).
This may surprise you but according to USA Today, studies consistently show that almost more than anything, employees are motivated for being recognized for doing a job well done. Now how hard can that be to do? Remember you should always be looking and listening to your staff so you can catch them doing good and praise them for it. Now this also doesn’t mean that you should not forget about the extra motivational tools that you can use, like gift certificates, getting off an hour early, free lunch, or a staff outing.
Another big employee motivator is having a great workplace environment, being valued, freedom to be creative within their work boundaries, and educational growth to better their position in the company. If you are unsure of what might motivate your employees, just ask them, I am sure they will have plenty of ideas to offer you. With motivated employees your workplace will continue to re-ignite the passion and excel to be the best at what you do with unlimited power.
10/8/18
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