Many years back, when Wal-Mart revealed that every morning its teams across the nation would recite a cheer, people thought it was crazy. They would shout every letter in the Wal-Mart name (including the “squiggly”) before the stores opened their doors each day. And sure, that did feel like quite the unorthodox way to hype up a team, but employees readily admitted that it motivated them to work harder during their day and have fun while they were at it. Can you say the same for your team?
Motivating employees can be tough. As deadlines loom overhead, jobs turn tedious, making it nearly impossible to infuse fun into the situation. Then your staff hits a wall, where they lose attachment to the product of their work and inevitably become disconnected from their job. It’s hard to reconnect them, when arguably they own neither the company nor the results of their hard work. So what do you do?
As an employer, it’s important to be aware of motivation within the workplace. Keep it going at all times, even when you think everything is fine. Here’s how.
1. Spot unmotivated employees.
There are two kinds of unmotivated employees: those who begrudgingly do their jobs and those who don’t. You don’t want either, regardless if one is completing a task, since they too are one step away from not working. Identify these members of your staff. You’ll know them by their dearth of enthusiasm, and oftentimes other employees will remark on their behavior. While it’s wise to never assume a noticeably disgruntled employee is simply unmotivated (they may be dealing with other issues), you can observe work performance and participation and use that as your gauge. Once you’ve identified those people, you’ll know who to take special care of in this mission for motivation. If your whole staff is unmotivated, then you have your work cut out for you.
2. Be the pillar of motivation.
You are running this ship, so it’s your duty to be Captain Motivation. This doesn’t mean you have to be sickeningly motivated—especially when you own the company—but maintaining a positive attitude can go a long way. That can simply mean just smiling more, or engaging your team throughout the day. Let them know they are valued. If your team sees their leader looking as if he/she doesn’t care, they will readily join you. The same works in reverse as well.
3.Inspire your employees to take pride in their work.
A happy employee is a motivated one, and a motivated one feels connected to the job they are doing. It’s all about letting your staff know that they aren’t just cogs in some giant work wheel. They are individuals who bring their own unique attributes to the job they are doing. Perhaps you can show your team the finished products of projects they had a hand in on a smaller scale, or celebrate small victories from the bottom up. Doing so will keep them in the process from start to finish, making them happier to be on board and motivated to do a good job and not sending their hard work off into space.
4.Let them vent.
If there’s a problem, let your employees discuss it. If a particular project is overwhelming or boring, let them say it. Preventing complaints from your team makes them bottle it all up. It festers and ultimately affects how they wake up each day and do their jobs. When you let them openly engage in dialogue that includes both positives and negatives, they feel like their voices matters and they are separated from the bad thoughts about the job. They’ll even feel a lot better and be motivated to finish the task now that the venting is out of the way.
5.Celebrate results.
It’s perfectly fine to offer incentives to your team for the work they do. When they feel they are celebrated for their work, they will want to do more of it. That doesn’t mean that every small task requires some prize, but it does mean that if employees can see a reward after a long haul of work, they will be motivated to reach that point. Even bagels for breakfast as a thank-you after a long project will mean something to them. Find new ways to show gratitude every time you show it. The result will be a motivated team.