May
14
If you can motivate a person, amazing things can happen.
You see it everywhere. People can pick up cars to save someone they love. Not just anyone – but motivated people. People will cut off their own arm to survive. A person motivated to survive will do amazing things. These are extreme examples, but it speaks clearly to my point.
Motivated people can do amazing things.
Assuming there are not a lot of personal life and death situations in the average office, people can still be motivated to perform great tasks. But they aren’t motivated in the way you probably try most frequently (hint, it isn’t cash).
In fact, different people are motivated in different ways! (I know, it is shocking).
There may be someone on your team who is motivated by cash, but Inc. shares how to motivate 10 different types of people to reach their full potential.
See especially #4 – “Innovative employees must buy into a cause. To them, the big picture matters more than the individual who is leading the charge. They prefer to be rewarded with something unconventional and imaginative, and would find a whimsical token of your esteem very meaningful.”
What ways do you try to motivate your team? What works? What does not work?
Apr
18
At the end of each year, businesses review the previous year’s goals, successes and missed opportunities, then plan goals and milestones accordingly for the following year. Don’t make the mistake of not focusing on the goals all year. There are a few things you can do to ensure your team is hitting the goals you set for the company throughout the year.
Here are 5 tips to help your team hit the next milestone:
1. Let everyone on the team know exactly what the goals are. Not only the company goals, but what you expect of each person to help reach those goals. The team can help define this, but goals should be set by the leadership and followed by the team.
2. Ensure everyone has an opportunity for success. Goals should be a challenge to reach, but not impossible. No one likes to fail and it can be discouraging to the team as a whole if there are never any successes to celebrate.
3. Don’t make it too easy to succeed. If the team can succeed without breaking a sweat, they may not be motivated to go even further to make the business better.
4. Reward loudly, coach quietly. If someone hits a goal – shout it from the rooftops and let everyone know you are proud. However, if someone is doing something poorly, or needs additional help to reach a goal, discuss it with that person privately. No one wants to be embarrassed among their peers about doing a bad job.
5. Celebrate as a team. After a milestone is reached, get out of the office and have some fun together. As a bonus, let the person who did the most to help reach the goal plan what that fun thing will be. Getting out as a team will help energize everyone to make that next milestone.
Apr
02
“If you do not sow in the spring you will not reap in the autumn.” ~Irish Proverb
How you cultivate employee good will year round dictates how dedicated and focused employees will be with your business year round (and not just around the time you give a bonus)?
Employees are 31% more productive and achieve 37% higher sales when they are happy. Can you afford to have unhappy employees? How do you keep the team motivated year round?
Of course we have a lot of ideas of how to reward employees.
Mar
19
There is no secret that every person is motivated in different ways. With 100 employees, you will have 100 different ways to motivate them. Since managers have far more to do than develop 100 different methods to motivate each employee, some fall back to the standard two things:
- More pay (not always logical or even possible)
- Give a sweeping “you guys are great” or “Atta boy” to the group
The problem is neither is actually motivating. The pay (while it is nice) has a short term benefit for motivation (if any), then it becomes viewed as part of the entitlement for the exchange of work. The sweeping statements are nice, but often seem empty.
The 5 Love Languages is a popular message for couples, but there are also 5 Languages of Appreciation.
Instead of developing 100 different motivational methods or avoiding it all together, you can focus on five simple methods. Each person will have their preferred methods, but you should be able to discover what works best for each person:
- Words of affirmation (specific, focused appreciation)
- Tangible gifts (low cost, but effective gifts – WishWish can help here)
- Acts of service (physically help them with something that is a challenge)
- Quality time (personal and focused on that person)
- Physical touch (a hearty handshake for a job well done, or a high five for figuring something out)
Have you discovered how to best motivate your team? Share your ideas in the comments.
Feb
21
It is easy to believe that a happy employee is better than an unhappy one. Would you also believe that they actually cost less.
A lot less.
Science News reports that having only 1 unhappy employee could cost $3,900 per year. That is not including how infectious the unhappy employees can be on others, causing more unhappy people (and costing more).
Rewarding people through the year is an easy way to boost moral in an organization. Using positive reinforcement, a good rewards and recognition program, and regular feedback about productivity and performance can go a long way to saving businesses a lot of money.
If an unhappy employee costs that much, I wonder how much a happy employee is worth in adding to the bottom line? What do you think?
