Staff motivation on a budget A smile on a face, a comfortable environment and recognition of hard work and excellence can go a long way in the workplace. Add carefully considered motivational strategies to these fundamentals and you will have a team to be proud of. It is important to demonstrate an understanding of human nature itself in order to inspire and energise employees. Think of employee performance rather like a mathematical formula: Performance = ability x motivation By developing strategies in these areas (ability and motivation) you will be providing your team with the fuel needed to achieve excellent performance results. It is important to identify intrinsic motivational factors to suit individual team members. Once you have identified key motivational factors for your team, bring them together to create effective motivational strategies. When employees feel they are truly part of a team and feel valued by their employer they are more likely to work hard and remain loyal to the company. Companies who motivate well not only achieve high performance results but also tend to have a low turnover rate which saves time, money and resources on recruitment. It is more cost effective to keep existing employees through proper training and motivation than it is to constantly recruit and train new ones. The ability to motivate employees is essential for meeting organisational objectives even in tough economical times but motivational methods do not need to be expensive. Please take a look at our Top Tips below: 1
Tip 1 Share the Vision Draw the team together at regular intervals to make sure the company s vision is clear. It is important for employees to understand what they are working to achieve as this can help them to achieve greater results. If the company s vision changes, be sure to let the team know. By understanding the company s vision, employees will be able to understand their role in the company s mission and feel proud of goals and achievements they reach on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. Use training methods to share the company s vision for the future (see Tip 6). Tip 2 Comfort and Aesthetics Employees respect and appreciate gestures that are put in place to make their working day as pleasant as possible. Make sure employees are comfortable by providing chairs and office furniture that meet their needs and make sure lighting is suitable. Think about music if it is appropriate. Don t be afraid to ask the team for their input what would make their day more comfortable? If costs are an issue try to think of low-cost or no-cost solutions. This may be as simple as keeping the office clean and tidy so that it is pleasurable to work in. Working conditions can hugely influence the atmosphere. Make sure your employees feel they are being taken care of. Tip 3 Get the structure right It is important that employees know who they are to report to. Ensure there is a clear chain of command from the head of the business down to the employee and make sure they understand where their role fits in to this chain. Employees will be far more likely to achieve targets if they understand their position clearly. Tip 4 Senior Manager Feedback Feedback from the manager is a cost-free and simple means of motivating staff. A telephone call or a letter from a senior manager recognising and congratulating achievement is extremely effective. Constructive feedback is also just as helpful in addressing and helping employees with any difficulties they may be facing. These methods also create a personal and direct relationship which can be encouraging for employees. (see our Guide on Writing Great Letters of Achievement) 2
Tip 5 Use Performance Reviews Create measurable and realistic targets for your employees and use performance reviews to monitor on a regular basis. Performance reviews and appraisals are excellent techniques used to motivate staff. There is often, however, a fine line between motivating staff and destroying morale. If you decide to use performance reviews you must take the time to think about how these will be conducted so as to use them to their maximum potential. Effective performance reviews may use performance logos? rather than written employee reviews to keep things simple. Turn negative performance into positives by guiding and offering advice on ways to improve. Get employees to set their own targets they are more like to achieve them if they have said it s achievable rather than a target they feel has been set for them; trust them to reach the clear goals you have agreed. Tip 6 Training Regular training is useful in two different ways. Not only does it ensure skills are kept up to date but it also shows staff that the company is keen to help individuals develop and learn and that each individual is worth a lot to them. Regular training is extremely important and is a great motivator. Training can help employees carry out their jobs better, which in turn achieves results, which in turn gains recognition and approval. Tip 7 Recognition and Rewards Employee incentives are designed to reward and reinforce positive behaviour in order to help staff improve performance. When someone does a good job it s important to recognise their achievements. There are various ways to reward staff; monthly bonuses and incentive schemes can be effective but nothing inspires employees better than a gift, certificate or award that they can take away with them and be proud of. Rewards can be given to the worthy recipients at staff meetings or in person to the individual. Think about keeping track of performance results and awards by announcing winners on a whiteboard for everyone to see that rewards are achievable. 3
Tip 8 Long Service Rewards and Recognition It is important to acknowledge and reward long serving employees as a thank you for loyalty and sustained contribution to the business. Long service rewards used to be awarded only to employees who had attained 25 or 40 years continuous service. However these days many employees think there are benefits to be achieved by recognising employees with 5, 10 and 15 years of service as this helps employees to feel appreciated and valued. Long Service Rewards enhance positive attitudes towards the workplace and the employees role within it they also strengthen personal connections between managers and staff. Long service recognition is not just about the amount you spend on making an acknowledgement; it is the way in which the reward is delivered that determines if the employee actually feels appreciated. www.and-the-winner-is.co.uk offers an extensive range of awards starting from as low as 20 fully engraved. Tip 9 Team Rewards Team rewards can also be a great motivator. Group activities or evenings out after work can also be an excellent way of rewarding a specific accomplishment is a great way to boost morale and offer recognition of hard work. Team rewards are also a great way to develop friendships between staff which in turn makes the working day more comfortable and enjoyable., When your team achieves a significant landmark, also consider rewarding them spontaneously. Spontaneity puts the fun back into the workplace! Smaller milestones achieved? Then order in pizza for lunch! Tip 10 Individual Rewards Companies are driven by good ideas. Reward individual success with something small such as leaving work an hour early or by offering added responsibility on a project to encourage productivity. Or, consider an Employee of the Week scheme to motivate staff on a regular basis. www.and-thewinner-is.co.uk offers a fantastic range of value awards with glass and crystal awards from as little as 9.99. These can be easily engraved (sandblasted) with company details or award details for a personalised gift. You may also consider offering a small bonus to the employee in question and embrace their ideas into a project for that employee to develop. 4
Tip 11 Bonus Schemes Bonus schemes are usually a positive method used to motivate individuals. They can take into consideration employee attendance, customer service, quality, safety, team and individual performance. Bonuses don t need to be large but can still provide incentive. The amount awarded really depends on the company and its targets. There are different types of bonus schemes such as All-employee Bonus Schemes, Profit Sharing Bonus Schemes, Individual Bonus Schemes or Shares and Shared Rewards. It is important to consider which scheme will suit your business effectively. Tip 12 Annual Awards Event Annual awards events are designed to acknowledge and reward individual staff and teams who have performed exceptionally throughout the year. These events can be small, low-key events or large, glitzy events depending on the available budget. Annual awards events encourage best practice and innovation and are great for members to get actively involved and be recognised for their efforts and achievements. The awards themselves can span a number of categories including those that require employees or team leaders to put nominations forward. If you draw up a shortlist of contenders for each category, don t just give an award to the overall winner. All the shortlisted staff are achievers. Give them an award too and don t call them runners up make it Gold for the overall winner and Silver for the other shortlisted staff www.and-the-winner-is.co.uk offers a fantastic range of luxurious awards including metal awards, glass awards, recycled awards and more. Tip 13 Keep things fresh As obvious as it may sound, the key to motivation is to keep things fresh. Any job, however much you enjoy it, can become monotonous. Monitor and re-evaluate your motivation strategies on a regular basis to identify any flaws and/or make changes. 5
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