Volunteers often work harder than the paid employees because they get satisfaction knowing the work they do is appreciated. So how can managers motivate their employees to want to do good work and keep coming back?
Challenging people, giving them more responsibility and recognizing them for their efforts are great ways to keep employees motivated. Here are some ways to keep employees motivated.
Recognition
People work harder for recognition than for money. Give people plenty of recognition for what they do well instead of criticizing them for failures, and they are more likely to do well. And this does not necessarily mean bonuses to their pay because that alone is not recognition. Making them employee of the month or giving them some other award where they are publicly recognized will help a lot.
Responsibility
Give someone more responsibility, and they will rise to the challenge. If an employee knows that she is trusted with a more difficult task, she will try harder and is more likely to succeed. For employees to do great work they must feel a sense of ownership, and adding responsibility accomplishes that.
Creativity
Give your employees a chance to shine and show what they can really do. An employee will work much harder on something in which they have creative input. Not everyone’s job has room for creative input, but no matter what the job is, if an employee has a suggestion or an idea, listen and show interest in it. Even if it turns out that it will not work, make sure the employees knows they can come to you if they have another idea. Knowing that their input is valued will help them stay motivated.
Build a relationship with your employees
The relationship that employees have with you will factor into the quality of their work. Build a relationship with your employees through staff meetings and by walking through and demonstrating interest in their work. This will help them remember that they are appreciated and that you need their work.
Motivated employees have long-term benefits for any company. The longer you can keep workers you value, the less time you’ll have to spend on hiring and training new people.
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