Do you need strategies that will work to motivate your staff? If you have recognised the importance of the loyalty of your team and their commitment to your vision, then you are already ahead of many. It is fine to attract the best talent in your sector. However, keeping them is much more challenging and requires a lot more proactive management.
Surveys will tell you the obvious. The biggest motivator for staff will be the amount you pay them and the benefits package you put together. However, you will be surprised to learn that the encouragement and recognition of leaders and peers is also a significant factor.
Consequently, if you want a return from your investment in your staff, then you might want to undertake some of these approaches.
Environment matters
Your workplace directly reflects your attitude to your workforce. This is quite the statement, but if you think about it — there is a degree of truth in it. If your workspace is shabby and disorganised, with little money spent on décor and the comfort of staff — it looks like you do not care. If you make sure the space is modern and attractive with areas for downtime, your staff will feel cared for. The wellbeing of your team is not just a trend of today. Making sure that your workers are looked after can not only improve productivity but also make them want to work harder for you.
Integrity
Should it go without saying that you treat your team with treat your team with respect and honesty? Upholding the highest levels of integrity when speaking and dealing with the team is an essential ingredient for maintaining motivation. The first casualty when you withhold information or are rude to your team is their willingness to go the extra mile. Continue to behave in such a way and the team will lose the desire to work for you at all.
You need to monitor how you give feedback carefully. It is difficult when the pressures are continuous, and you feel like you are “in the trenches”. It is easy to expect your team to understand the stresses you face — but why should they?
Offer rewards
Remember when you were at school and you were called up to the front of an assembly to receive a certificate? You walked to the front on a cloud of air. You couldn’t wait to show your classroom teacher, or your parents or carers, or maybe even your best friend. We think we grow up out of this sort of affirmation, but we don’t. We love getting small gestures that recognise our talent, effort or attitude.
How to offer rewards depends on the context within which you work. Sometimes it can be as simple as a comment as you pass to get a cup of coffee. It doesn’t have to be ostentatious. Alternatively, you might want to have a regular item on your team meeting agenda where you celebrate a success you have noticed. This prompts people looking to find something that will make them stand out and therefore get a mention.
You could be more generous. You can offer rewards such as team trips or a night out, especially at the end of a difficult period of work. Or, you could go so far as to offer free private healthcare. Private healthcare also allows you to show you care about the wellbeing of the team.
Onward challenges
People do not want to feel like they are caught in a hamster wheel. There must be a sense that your team is making onward progress. If you hire people because they are talented and ambitious, you will also have to deal with their ongoing desire for new challenges and career advancements. You have a choice. You can either manage this onward advancement with courses and increased responsibility, or you can accept you will have some turnover of staff.
The cost of recruitment and onboarding is such that you likely want to retain talented people. Therefore, you need to be as concerned by the development of your teams’ CVs as they are. This concern might include finding new opportunities for increased responsibility when it is earned.
Summary
Investing in your team is going to offer a return to productivity. A highly motivated team will not only work harder, but they will be focused on making your organisation a success. Working to garner the motivation of your team is not just about being a good person, but also a good leader. You will be guaranteeing the success of your mission because you have succeeded in motivating your staff.
