How to Motivate Staff and Increase Productivity

Motivate Staff and Increase Productivity

Did you know that 81% of employees are currently thinking about leaving their job in search of a ‘better offer’?

While some of these workers may truly be in unfulfilling roles, the truth is that most employees don’t stick around due to a lack of engagement at work. In fact, only about 15% of the population worldwide actually feels ‘engaged’ at their job.

Fortunately, there are several ways you can boost engagement and motivate staff to see more productive and happy workers in your halls.

Ready to discover the HR secrets to motivate employees and skyrocket your success this financial year? Follow along with these tips and tricks for motivating employees in the workplace today.

Start Strong

Right from the moment you hire an employee, they are subconsciously gathering intel on your expectations. With this in mind, the best way to keep your staff motivated and productive from the start is by maximizing your hiring and onboarding process.

By using efficient and professional onboarding software such as the program at https://WorkBright.com/employee-onboarding-software/, you’ll be starting off an impressive foot with your new hire.

Offer Recognition for Great Work

This method for how to motivate employees sounds incredibly simple, and that’s because it is!

When it comes down to it, we all like our hard work and efforts to be recognized. So much so that when we receive praise for our work, it actually motivates us to keep it up!

On the other hand, when employees aren’t recognized for doing an excellent job, they can lose motivation on following projects. They feel that because their work is unappreciated and overlooked, it doesn’t matter if they do well or poorly.

The best part about this motivation technique is that it’s virtually free for your HR managers to implement. All you need to do is send positive words and high-fives to your employees to let them know you truly appreciate them.

If you’re after fail-proof recognition, you could even consider posting a ‘job well done’ board in your staff room. Open it up for employees to recognize each other’s efforts and brag them up!

Host Challenges and Rewards

If recognition isn’t enough to keep your team motivated, adding a little incentive to the task will do the trick.

Creating friendly competition among your team is a great way to up productivity and keep your staff focused. The tricky part with this is knowing when to draw the line.

While healthy competition is good, your team still needs to be able to work together without friction. This means you’ll want to ensure that the competitive nature doesn’t go too far.

Of course, with some simple guidelines and team-friendly requirements to win, your employees will love this fun way to stay engaged! Besides, who’s not motivated by free products or bonuses?

Consider Remote Opportunities

While this may sound counter-intuitive, the past year of lockdowns has taught us that remote work is actually just as productive, if not more, than having your staff sitting in the same building.

If your roles allow, consider opening up for remote or partially remote opportunities within the business. This level of trust and freedom actually works in your favor to keep your employees interested in working for your company. By offering a more flexible working environment, you’ve added a level of value to the job that isn’t as easy to come by if they leave.

Offer Flexible Scheduling

If remote work isn’t a possibility (or even if it is), consider allowing your staff room to grow by offering flexible scheduling.

Just like remote work, this adds a very distinct perk to working for your business and encourages them to stay dedicated and work hard for you. In addition, flexible scheduling offers an opportunity for your staff to focus their energy in their peak windows. They can then rest when they are tired and recover for better productivity.

This can eliminate common problems such as work burnout that severely impact mental health and, in turn, productivity.

Create Quality Culture

It goes without saying that working in a beautiful space is far more satisfying and motivating than working somewhere you don’t want to be. While the physical appearance of your business is one aspect of this environment, your culture is by far the most impactful piece.

By creating a culture of communication and positivity, your staff members can feel like they are a part of something worthy. The best thing about this is that you can create this great culture both in person and online.

If you do have remote workers or a large amount of your in-house communication takes place online, take to online platforms for culture. By using a group messaging program like Slack, you can keep your staff engaged no matter where they are.

Keep it fun and interesting by having daily jokes, tips and tricks, or even contests within the platform. This will keep your employees interacting and stimulated.

Personalize Your Approach

You know your staff are all vastly different, and that’s part of what makes your team diverse and successful. Of course, this uniqueness also means your staff will all have different working habits that suit them best.

While some employees may be superstars when working alone, others may need a more hands-on supervisor to keep them focused. It’s important to remember that one style isn’t better than another, and as their leader, it’s your job to ensure everyone is getting what they need.

Take the time to get to know each staff member and their unique needs, skills, and strengths. By personalizing your approach, your staff will feel more appreciated and accepted. In turn, this makes them feel more inclined to work hard for you.

In addition, learning how your team works individually can offer key advantages for productivity. If you know that one team member has an advanced skill set for x and another is better suited for y, you can save time and headache by planning this way.

Focus on ‘Why’

You know that stage that all toddlers go through where they ask ‘why’ to every statement you offer? Believe it or not, that human curiosity never really goes away, we just learn when to ask and when to go with the flow.

When it comes to the working world, your employees still want to know ‘why’ before completing your tasks with no explanation. In fact, shouting out orders with little to no background information is a recipe for disengaged employees.

Rather than hoping your employees will do what you ask, get them involved by offering up the ‘why’. Not only will they feel more involved in the company, but with a little explanation, you’re far more likely to boost employee buy-in.

When it comes to how to motivate employees, a little respect and explanation go a long way.

Create ‘Stretch’ Goals

You want your business to grow, that’s a given, but the goals you set for that growth could actually be discouraging your employees from even trying.

By setting massive goals that feel unaccomplishable to your team, their desire and motivation will suffer. This is because no one really wants to do a job they know they’ll fail at.

Rather than setting your team up for that feeling of failure, set ‘stretch’ goals that push your team just past their perceived capacity.

To do this, you’ll need to measure exactly what your team or individuals can handle and then set the goal just slightly beyond this. With a reasonable gap between what they have done and the next goal, they can form a realistic plan to push just that little bit further.

By lowering your goals, you’ll actually stand a better chance at smashing company records and expediting your growth!

Practice Transparency

Speaking of goals, as you set off to gather information and set those targets, consider letting your team in on the secrets.

Many companies keep certain aspects of the business restricted. Unfortunately, this limited information can make your employees feel like you simply don’t trust them. Whether or not this is the case, that feeling of being left out subconsciously impacts the amount of effort they are willing to give you.

Now, we know that offering up confidential information to your team has a certain level of risk. However, the reward for transparency is often much greater than the risk.

By helping your team understand the confidential reasons behind your business moves and even including them in decisions and goal setting, you’ll have a much more dedicated team behind you. At the end of the day, this unconditional trust makes them feel included and important. And what does that do for motivation? You guessed it!

Gamify Large Goals and Tasks

Have you got a massive project or goal to reach? As we mentioned above, these large goals can often be discouraging to a team. However, there are situations in which you cannot lower the stakes.

In times like these, lighten the atmosphere around the project by making a game out of it.

Break the task into smaller, more manageable chunks and turn it into a contest or even team-building activity. There are endless possibilities for motivating workplace games that will excite your staff and keep them moving.

For example, consider designing a board game in the staff room in which players move along by making sales or completing projects. Each stepping stone along the way can include fun activities, challenges, or even rewards to keep them excited and engaged.

Go Branded

Did you know that staff are more motivated to smash their goals when they feel like they are a part of something bigger? While every employee at your company is a part of your team, they may not feel like it just by coming to work.

Believe it or not, by supplying your staff members with branded apparel, they feel more like they ‘represent’ the company. In turn, they are more likely to feel responsible for your company’s image and act accordingly to boost you up!

That’s right, just a small investment in branded t-shirts or uniforms can unite your team and increase your brand visibility at the same time!

Give Them Room to Grow

Dead-end jobs aren’t appealing to anyone, so make sure your employees always know there is room to grow within your company.

By prioritizing promotion from within the company, your staff members will know that you are ready and willing to help them develop. When posting positions for hire, open up applications to your team first to encourage that hard-working spirit.

When they know there may be a chance to earn more money and gain a higher title, they are more likely to go above and beyond to impress. What’s more, is that dedicated, long-term employees can save the company thousands of dollars in hiring and training fees over the years.

Celebrate Wins

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to celebrate all of your wins as a team.

Whether or not you choose to use this celebration as motivation is up to your unique team. Either way, the benefits of regular celebrations definitely pay off.

Even when your staff doesn’t have a guarantee for a celebration, the memory of the last one is often enough to encourage extra dedication and performance when the stakes are high. In fact, the more celebrations and fun you can offer, the better.

Celebrate teams, individuals, and even birthdays to let your staff know you appreciate them every step of the way.

Motivate Staff for Success

Now that you know what motivates employees in the workplace, you can build a team of champions. From starting off on the right foot to celebrating every milestone along the way, we’re confident these tips and tricks to motivate staff will have your team and business thriving.

Want to learn more about advancing your business? Check out our tips, tricks, and how to’s to discover everything you need to know to thrive in the year ahead.