Hi everyone, I hope you all managed to avoid the stagnant leadership monster on Halloween. I’m always happy to be of service by providing the right answers to rid bad behavior in the workplace. By trade, one of the bigger hats I wear is that of a motivator; yes, I do keynotes and executive coaching, but this is knowledge gained after years of motivating employees in the actual field. Knowing how to motivate employees is important for leaders to grasp when operating any business. Today, I’ll be giving a page from my game plan so you can fine tune those skills. Hut hut hut! Let’s get started.
Motivation Comes from the Leader- You’re the Star Coach
“Whatever you’ve heard about it being a leader’s job to manage, not motivate, is another lingering legacy of the management culture and the belief that a leader should hire great people and get out of their way. That is ineffective.”
In my book, The Leadership Playbook, I explain that great leaders motivate their employees with focus, discipline, passion, and belief. Yes, you can hire experts like me to guide you along the process or offer new and different motivational ideas. However, a great leader is a great coach, so you’ll still need to inspire your team. I mean, if not you, then who?
Like the captain of any ship or general of any army, the head of an organization must create and enable sustainable motivation within their team. This goes beyond the once or twice a year team building retreat. No. Sustainable employee motivation means giving your employees the drive to wake up every day and do their best. It’s also important to ensure your best employees feel proud to be a part of your organization and cast no eyes astray.
It’s a hard gig, I know, so to help keep you on track, I’ve created an employee motivation checklist.
The Key Employee Motivation Checklist
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Motivation starts with the leader but is sustained by employees through accountability for themselves and their colleagues.
Like all other areas of business operations, motivating employees requires a strategic plan. It should never be an after thought. To see results, leadership should implement reminders and activities on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. What’s also important is building a team culture where everyone is held accountable for their part in the company’s success. By expressing and holding your team to certain standards, they’ll be motivated to succeed as one unified team.
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Motivation is like food; we all need that daily reassurance to succeed.
You can easily do this through rewards and recognition. But as explained above, it can’t be a one hit wonder. It should be ingrained in the daily operations of the company. Furthermore, it can be as simple as gifting a reasonably valued gift certificate to the employee of the month. It could also be making the time to thank your employees for a job well done whenever they’ve surpassed a particular milestone. Or speaking to them directly during a rough quarter to boost morale and keep their eye on the ball. Shoot, you can even schedule walking the floor at least once a week to see and speak to your employees. This will also allow you to keep a direct eye on all the cogs in the machine.
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Knowledgeable employees are confident; when we are confident, we’re more motivated.
This one is pretty self-explanatory and something I frequently impress on you in most of my blog posts. Invest in your employees, they’re your human capital. Mandate training at all levels and as frequently as possible. It can be as informal as a one-on-one practice run before a big pitch or as formal as bringing in a subject matter expert on various operational areas. The truth is we can never learn enough.
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Motivate and celebrate your best employees, this sets a benchmark for expectations.
Yes, yes, yes. This is something I won’t shut up about BUT it’s for a reason. Too many leaders focus on their worst employees, for various reasons, but don’t dedicate enough time to the employees that actually help the company achieve their goals. Motivated players with talent and skills will always, and I do mean always, outperform those without that innate driving force to succeed.
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Employee morale is about feelings. People are human who feel, so there’s no use ignoring your team members feelings.
Morale is not an action. Nope. It requires leaders to change the perspective of their team members, especially when the going gets tough. Employee motivation is nonexistent if your team isn’t confident, enthusiastic, or disciplined as one, to succeed. Be visible, show them that you’re at the helm of the ship whether in a storm or during calm seas. Show them that you believe in their ability to succeed despite whatever challenges are thrown their way. I promise, they will love and trust their leader – you, and their job.
Final Thoughts on Employee Motivation
Employee motivation is what keeps the cogs flowing in any business. Your human capital, i.e., your employees, will fail to perform if they don’t feel motivated to do their job (or appreciated). Leaders are responsible for motivating their team. There is no team without a coach, army without a general or business without a leader- if no one oversees the needs of their people, then failure can be expected. Employee motivation shouldn’t just be hired out for external people to fix or only be a once a year speech at a team building activity. No, sustainable employee motivation is its own strategic initiative that should be engrained and practiced in the day-to-day operations of the company (ALONG with those motivational speeches…ps I know someone).
