Employee Motivation: Techniques And Useful Tips
Introduction in employee motivation.
Motivation is the key to performance improvement, here you will find techniques how to get your employee to work hard, how to use employee motivation surveys and a simple motivation program. For further details please look at site navigation.
Employee motivation techniques vary from expert to expert. However, they all have the same goal, getting employees to want to do their job better and more efficiently. So how can a business owner or manager get their employees motivated?
Through effective employee motivation techniques a company can get much better performance out of their employees. One technique to motivate employees that works really well is the employee of the month. This highlights a single individual who has shown outstanding drive, performance and effort for the given month. This should be awarded by management and not by peer review. You do not want it to become a popularity contest. Most companies will post the person's picture in a prominent area, and they also get a few perks for that month -- a parking spot up close to the entrance with a sign that says reserved for employee of the month is often given. Sometimes a small gift is given like a pen or coffee mug that says employee of the month. It is usually good to have an awards ceremony or to give out this award at management meeting. It does not cost the company a lot of money to implement this, but the result of this technique is huge. First of all it gives the employee recognition and lots of it. We all like to be told when we have done a good job. This is especially true when we know we have put a lot of time and effort into something. This simple technique will definitely motivate your employees.
Other effective employee motivation techniques include competitions between teams in order to get projects completed faster, awards for perfect attendance, and awards for jobs well done. Some companies will let customers rate their customer service representatives. At the end of a specific time frame an award is given to the person who has provided the most outstanding customer service.
In order for employee motivation techniques it is imperative that they are based solely on job performance. There cannot be awards based on popularity or need. Those types of awards will undermine employee motivation and cause bad or hurt feelings. So when all is said and done, be sure to reward those who have shown focus and dedication beyond what was expected!
Every employee motivation program has the same objective. To motivate the employees to do their jobs better, more efficiently, and to take on more challenges. In order to accomplish this an effective motivation program must be in place.
What makes an effective employee motivation program? One that is based on the understanding of how human nature works. All humans are motivated by 2 things -- pleasure or pain. If we find something pleasurable we will continue to seek it out. If we find something painful we usually avoid it. So how do these principles play into an effective employee program? It's simple, the focus needs to be on the positive. Gone are the days when effective management meant a tyrant of a boss running an organization by intimidation and fear. In the long run that policy does not work. In order to get motivated employees your program must focus on two areas; ability and motivation.
So then ability and motivation are the core part of any good employee motivation program. Now what? Let's look at these two items. Ability is a person's aptitude to perform a task. Either they have the skills to perform a given task or they do not. Ability can be improved with training and education. This can be a time consuming process, but it needs to be included in the total program. Motivation is the willingness of a person to want to perform a task. When it comes down to it we all do either what we want to do or we do what someone or something motivates us to do. For example; we notice that we hear running water in the house while watching our favorite show. We can either sit there and finish watching our show (what we want to do) or get up and find out if a pipe has burst (what we are motivated to do). So to motivate employees we should give them a positive reason to want to perform a task.
Overall in order to have an excellent employee motivation program you need to be sure it includes all of the following:
1) Positive reinforcement along with high expectations, provide training when necessary.
2) Treat people fairly, with respect, and honestly.
3) Understanding and addressing employee needs.
4) Teach employees how to set work related goals.
5) Restructure or reorganize jobs and job descriptions when necessary.
6) Have a rewards system based on job performance.
Once these items are included, you will see an amazing difference in how your employee motivation program is having a positive impact on your organization.
What kinds of companies use employee motivation surveys? Companies that value their employees. These surveys are useful in tracking a number of key employee areas such as employee satisfaction, changes in this satisfaction, and employee retention.
Using employee motivation surveys to monitor employee satisfaction involves simply asking employees how happy and satisfied they are with their current job. Many questions can be designed to find out exactly what the employees like and dislike about their current employment situation. This is the first step in improving company/employee relationships and it is also the first step in improving turnover rates. Using these survey over time will show a company how employee satisfaction is changing over any given time period. This is especially useful to see if satisfaction improves after a motivational training effort or by changing employee motivation techniques.
Employee retention and turnover rates can be greatly improved by using employee motivation surveys as exit surveys. When an employee leaves, have them fill out an exit survey. The company needs to know why employees are leaving. Is it a skill issue, a pay rate issue, are they moving, etc. Improving employee retention is a great way to improve a company's bottom line. It is always less expensive to train and retrain current employees that to recruit, and train new ones. New employees always have a learning curve that current ones do not. So treat your employees as valuable assets and see how many you can retain.
Do you need a professional to design employee motivation surveys for you? Most companies should have qualified individuals to design a simple survey. Some companies prefer elaborate surveys designed by those with Ph.D.'s in psychology. That's OK, but it is out of the price range of most small to medium sized businesses. You can also find survey's online. There are many companies on the Internet who will let you design your own online survey or for a fee will design one for you. This can be a cost effective way to get the survey done and results tracked for a reasonable fee.
What ever your situation, look into employee motivation surveys to find out how to keep your employees.
Visit Also:
Motivational Training | Goal Setting | Self Esteem | Motivation
Share this site with your friends at:
