Are you doing everything you can to motivate your employees?
By Michael W. Hill, Mobius Vendor Partners Executive Consultant
Author of Measuring to Manage
Some companies are finding it harder and harder to motivate their employees!
What are some of the issues with unmotivated employees? One of the most obvious effects of a lack of employee motivation is a drop in productivity. When productivity decreases the employees’ work pace will most likely slow down and the quality of their work can also suffer. Most companies find that those employees with high absenteeism and misusing PTO are generally your unmotivated employees. A secondary problem here is that your motivated (good) workers need to pick up the slack of those that are taking the time off. Another problem with unmotivated employees is high turnover. Unmotivated employees often look for new challenges and leave the company. We find that one of the biggest problems with unmotivated employees is the negative working atmosphere that they create which of course leads to poorer teamwork.
As you can see the consequences of a lack of employee motivation are many and can cost companies dearly. It only makes sense to identify the motivators for your employees and start addressing them as soon as possible.
The following are a few motivators that you may be overlooking:
- Encouragements – we are always surprised on little attention is given to encouraging employees. A simple sentence like “you handled that problem/request/ or extra assignment really well” can go a long way to motivating your employees. When an employee hears their boss or anyone in upper management express their confidence in the employee’s work, motivation increases. When was the last time you gave your employees some words of encouragement? When would your employee say it was the last time they received some?
- A feeling of connection to the organization. When employees feel trusted, appreciated, and feel are part of the team, the results are motivated employees. With many companies now offering a blend of in the office and out of office work this connection can be a challenge. When team members are able to build bonds with each other, new ideas will flow, and you will see an increase in collaboration. . When was the last time you gave your employees a team bonding opportunity? Would your employees it was a “connecting” experience?
- Are you giving your employees the support they need? we often think of support as the materials needed for the employee to do the job. But, what about the emotional support that is needed? Here’s three areas that need to be addressed: sorrows, frustrations, and joys. When managers look to offer support in these areas employees feel more connected with the organization and performance improves. When was the last time you made an effort to address your employee’s wellbeing? Would your employee give the same answer?
You probably noticed that I point out with each “motivator” that you need to ask your employees for their input. Maybe a survey would help? You might be making some assumptions that are just not correct! Get your employees involved! Some of the “sign” of a culture issue may be affecting your employees more than you think and they may currently be looking for employment elsewhere because they do not feel that the organizations culture is one in which they want to work.
You may want our help.
At Mobius’ Employee Experience – EX Consulting Employee Experience – Mobius Vendor Partners (mobiusvp.com) – we have the software to survey your employees so you can make the best decisions for your company and respond to your employees’ needs. Contact us to get started.
Mike’s book: Measuring to Manage is available on Amazon.
