It’s generally thought that money and status are the greatest motivators in life, however, this may be true for some people but many other motivators can get your team to a place of high performance and success.
Motivation is a key force that drives behaviour and when staff morale is low performance is low and when morale is high your staff will be ready to go to battle with you. So how do you achieve this?
Meaning:
To come to work day in and day out, in most cases a minimum of 8 hours a day at work the employee’s job needs to have meaning. When a person understands and finds meaning in their role they are more likely to want to achieve their goals if not exceed them. Meaning can be derived by understanding their role in a process such a factory worker taking care in ensuring the production of their product to ensure the safety of the eventual customer; a nurse ensuring a patient is cared for and has a positive medical experience or accounts staff gathering outstanding debt to keep the company afloat. When communicating with your team express and reinforce the meaning of their contribution to the company.
Recognition:
Recognition can go a long way -recognise what your staff do, and express gratitude and appreciation. A common complaint I have when interacting with staff is “they” – the bosses - don’t see how much effort and time goes into the employee’s job and how much the employee puts in sometimes in their own time to get things done, in their view all employers care about are outputs and eventual financial gain. As a leader when you see and know someone has done something worthy of praise give them the praise. Be consistent with your praise others watch when you give recognition and this will help encourage others to emulate the desired behaviour. Recognition does not always have to be monetary it can be a can of Coke after a gruelling shift, a thank you braai, or perhaps an afternoon off when extra time has been put i to achieve a deadline. And never ever underestimate the words “thank you” this is the simplest way to make an employee feel valued.
Respect:
Yes, the employee exchanges their time for a salary, but this does not mean that they are any lesser of a person because of the power imbalance. Every staff member should be treated with respect and dignity no matter who they are. All employees are a cog in the wheel that drives the success of the company. Leaders that show respect to staff get so much more out of them than those who don’t.
Challenge:
Challenge is a great motivator. Boredom and monotony can set in when an employee is employed at the same company for a while. Give your employee stretch goals, something to get them out of their comfort zones to allow them to grow and learn and test their abilities. Be supportive during these times, don’t micromanage the process allow the employee the freedom to figure things out by themselves but be in the background available to provide guidance when uncertainty arises.
Communication and Relationships:
Communication is critical in building a relationship of trust and fostering teamwork. So often I note an “us and them” scenario. Mangers often keep information to themselves that would be of value to staff (if something affects staff then communicate with them) withholding information from staff breeds contempt and mistrust. Don’t communicate confidential information or information that does not have a final stamp of approval as changing your mind also breeds mistrust. Communication is essential in building a team and pulling everyone in the same direction to meet company goals.
Independence:
Allow the employee independence to achieve the objectives of their role. Don’t micromanage employees if they have given you no reasons to, you will need to micromanage your poor performers and keep an eye on them. There is nothing more soul-destroying for a capable and performing employee to be micromanaged. Micromanagement tends to be a sign of anxiety and a need for control for a manager however the employee sees micromanaging as a form of mistrust and the managers' inability to see their capabilities. All employees need boundaries and rules which need to be consistently applied, in providing independence do not allow the employee the other extreme where they rule the roost this will create a whole host of other problems.
I wish you well in leading your teams in 2022 keep your staff motivated and performing.
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