Employee Motivation | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer

5 Tips to Keep Your Office Employees Motivated

December 13, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Failing to keep your employees motivated and on task risks your business becoming stuck in a rut, which can be a severe problem no matter what industry your business operates in. motivated employees will always work as hard as possible to achieve the business goals. Still, it can be tricky to motivate employees, especially if you’re new to leadership or have made an unpopular decision. If you are struggling to motivate your office employees, consider these tips.

Understand Their Needs

All employees have various needs you must attend to and ensure they are motivated at work. However, it can be challenging to ascertain these needs as you will need to consider various preferences and situations. A young professional is unlikely to have the same needs as someone who has worked for you for years. Therefore, you will need to get to know everyone on a deeper level, while outright asking them what they want and need from their career should point you in the right direction.

Offer Exceptional Amenities

If your employees have gotten used to working from home, they are also used to amenities that make their workday more comfortable and enjoyable. Managers that need their employees back at the office must find ways to make the office enjoyable, too. High-quality appliances, a comfortable place to take breaks, and a business satellite radio system are all ideal options that can make the office feel more welcoming while still encouraging hard work and focus.

Empower Them

All employees need to feel empowered to achieve their best results. Setting expectations for various employees will make it easier for them to achieve these results, as they know what you want from the, and they will have no trouble taking steps to reach your expectations. The more you empower them, such as offering the chance to progress and learn more, the easier it will be to trust them, meaning you can take a step back and watch your mentee impress clients, customers, and many more.

Keep An Open Door

Some employees may struggle to come back to the office, so keeping an open door will make them feel like they can come to you for everything. This can reduce mental health issues with your employees and you may even be able to work together to find a solution that benefits them and the company.

Encourage Collaboration

The best employees will always take the chance to learn from one another, so encourage collaboration between your staff. Try to push for brainstorming and other activities where they can bounce ideas off one another, especially when you hand them a significant project for them to lead. Collaboration is excellent for team building, and it can create stronger bonds within the office that will appeal to other employees, too.

Staying On Task

Keeping the team on task can help your business achieve its goals much faster. If you feel you are struggling to motivate those who occupy your office, these tips can help you transform their mindset and give them a reason to work. Soon enough, you’ll see the positive results you expected.

6 Ways to Keep Employees Motivated During Peak Season

December 8, 2022 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

A group of employees at work talking to each other and smiling

If business owners and managers can figure out how to best position their employees for success, businesses that change depending on the season can be exciting and gratifying places to work. Of course, peak season is frequently characterized by an increase in cash flow and the amount of business. This, in turn, also raises the expectations placed on personnel. During such a time, failing to adequately encourage staff could have very negative effects. Such negative effects may result in problems such as a large employee turnover and reduced workflow. Therefore, if you want to keep employees motivated and successful during peak season, here are some tips for you.

#1 Always hire the right people to start with

To ensure success even during the busiest of peak seasons, you must create a solid foundation. And what better way to do that than employing the right people? The important factors when hiring are when and whom you will hire. By balancing these two, you will keep career satisfaction high for you and your employees.

Experts suggest starting with the hiring process way ahead of peak season. In most cases, around 6 months’ time is enough to acquire the right people for the job. However, the time you want to put aside for it should also depend on your business needs and wants.

As mentioned, to reduce the burden of peak season, you should consider hiring additional staff. But only the right staff will be able to help out instead of doing the opposite. Make sure to ask the right questions, inform them of the expectations you will have of them when peak season arrives, and maybe even strategize the workflow by giving them tasks that will lessen the tasks needed to be done by someone else.

#2 Prepare for peak season beforehand

With the previous step, you’ve already started preparing for the peak season by filling in the gaps. However, there are other things you can do to prepare further.

The first thing you should do is communicate with your current team. It is best to inform them prematurely of what will likely happen during peak season. You may bring up reports from previous years or give them a clear insight into what you want them to be ready for. Furthermore, talk to them about their responsibilities and how their day-to-day workflow will have to change.

Afterward, you should optimize your business as much as possible. This is vital even when it is not a busy season, but you simply want to make your business run smoothly. For example, you may automize administrative tasks by using advanced services. On the other hand, even separating your staff into teams and choosing team leaders can help better prepare you for the upcoming peak season.

Lastly, if your staff is currently working from an office that is not adequate anymore, maybe it is time to prepare to move offices. This is particularly important to do before peak season since, during it, you may not have the time needed to do so. Furthermore, the move might add even more stress on top of the high level of stress peak season brings. Luckily, moving offices will likely motivate your staff for the peak season. But, make sure to get help with this task by acquiring commercial movers you can trust, so they take the load off of your and your workers’ shoulders.

#3 Keep communication open even during peak season

Although you may understand the importance of being open before peak season, did you know that it is just as vital to communicate during? After all, if you want to keep employees motivated during peak season, you should be open to hearing their concerns. Make sure to inform everyone on your staff that you are there for any inquiries and complaints. There is nothing that worsens motivation more than an employee having an issue and not being heard. However, be sure to remain calm and collected when listening to them. Furthermore, do not dismiss their words like they’re not important, and let them know their input is valuable. Compromise and deal with their concerns in whatever way you feel would be helpful to them and your company.

#4 Prioritize creating a good work environment

Prior to peak season, many employers focus on the income they will acquire and the workload they’ll need to deal with. But this should not be your priority if you truly want to focus on those previous aspects. Instead, you should focus on creating a good work environment. Make a space that is going to motivate employees, where they can learn their craft, where they know someone has their back, and where they can work to their fullest potential. With such a setting, prosperity will come naturally. Additionally, it will create better workers and also reduce employee turnover. In turn, all of these benefits will make sure that no matter how busy each peak season is, your employees will be able to handle it.

#5 Make sure to encourage your employees

Now that you have workers that you are happy to be a part of your team, it is on you to motivate them to stay that way. Money and benefits are obviously significant, but a survey revealed that they don’t rank at the top of the list of motivational factors. According to a recent survey, having a healthy work-life balance, peer motivation, and a supportive employer are the three most motivating aspects for employees.

So, what can you do about that? You could enforce strict times for resting and leaving work to enforce a healthier work-life balance. Furthermore, you should be respectful and honest when you need to be. Encourage them when they achieve success and support them when they make mistakes. Offer them bonuses and rewards such as a financial adviser that can help them with their financial stability. Showing them appreciation is a sure way of motivating them to always do a better job.

#6 Lead by example

No matter how many of the other tips you may follow, everything will go down the drain if you do not lead by example. For example, if you enforce open communication while not talking openly with them. Or if you stay overtime each day while you expect them to prioritize their work-life balance. All of these things (and more) are only going to seem like promises and advice that you do not even follow yourself. Therefore, if you truly want to keep employees motivated during peak season, make sure you do the same as you expect from them.

10 Way to Motivate Employees and Improve Productivity

July 11, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Image Credit

When you look at your employees, do you see a workforce that is motivated, confident, and satisfied, or do you see one that is despondent and unproductive? Chances are you see one that is somewhere in the middle, but that’s okay; it means there is room for improvement. This article has 10 ways to motivate and incentivize your workforce to make them more productive.

Working Environment

If you want a happy and productive workforce, make sure your business is clean and modern. While it might seem like an extra expense to update office infrastructures such as computers, desks, and decorations. This is a worthwhile investment when you see productivity levels improving because your employees feel more inspired by the office and the brand identity.

Some people might complain about their work, which is understandable based on how much time is spent in the office, but even those who complain a lot like to feel as though they work in a clean and modern place. Try to be a brand your employees can feel proud to associate with in their personal lives as well; this creates a positive influence on your brand with word of mouth.

Supporting Environment

Nobody said that running a business was easy, and it certainly isn’t that when it comes to management. Even experienced managers get it wrong from time to time, and bad management is one of the main reasons for poor morale and high turnover levels, so why not start improving your management profiles today by investing in more training for managers or hiring new staff.

In general, employees want respect, transparency, honesty, and clear communication. Put it like this, and it seems simple – just be upfront and understanding with your staff, and they will respond – but there’s more to it than that. Never stop learning when it comes to management and creating a supportive office environment. Remember, management styles need to be modern.

Employee Rewards

Keeping employees happy and motivated is a two-way endeavor; if you treat them well, they respond with a better attitude and more investment in the company goals. If you don’t have an incentive program yet, it’s a good idea to set one up quickly so workers can enjoy some rewards for their work and your company can benefit from better productivity levels and better revenue.

Employee rewards incentivize workers to stay with the company and invest their futures in your growth strategies; these rewards can include things like a quarterly bonus, private healthcare, professional training, and shares in the company. Decide how the rewards should be achieved and distributed; for instance, are they based on reaching personal or company targets?

Growth Strategies

In recent years there has been an explosion in the freelance industry; as more freelance opportunities became available, more individual left their company positions to take up freelance roles with self-responsibility. But freelancing doesn’t offer incentives or achievement rewards which can affect employee morale and reduce opportunities for growing as a productive person.

For this reason, many workers who moved to freelance work in the beginning have since returned to paid employment where they are part of growth strategies and are recognized for the work their carry out. This is something to remember when you create an incentives program for your business; employees like to be rewarded and recognized for their contributions.

Positive Feedback

While we’re on the subject, positive feedback from customers is just as important as positive feedback from managers. Employees like to know that their work has a real-world application, which isn’t always possible when you operate a large company with hundreds of workers. Still, there are ways to report customer satisfaction and feedback to your employees in the office.

When it comes to positive feedback, the small things matter just as much as the significant achievements. Don’t forget to inform your employees of customer appreciation in any form, even if it’s a minor point on a customer feedback form. There are various apps you can use to gather feedback and report it quickly to your teams in meetings or at the beginning of the day.

Total Transparency

There are two ways to conduct your business affairs, one of them is an us and them approach that puts a barrier between managers and employees, and the other is total transparency. If you want to incentivize workers, it’s better to use a transparent approach to make your workers feel as if they have a stake in the business and that their efforts have an impact on any outcomes.

This is one of the easiest ways to incentivize your workforce because it simply means taking down the barrier between yourself and your employee. Works can gain insights into how your business is operating and whether it’s achieving targets. Not only does it integrate employees, but it also helps them to spot weaknesses. Be warned; this approach might require more security.

Employee Benefits

Incentives come in different forms; some of them are modern approaches like offering company shares or flexible schedules, while others are more traditional. Employee benefits like worker’s compensation insurance is a more traditional approach to employee motivation; however, it has stood the test of time for a reason. Employee benefits make workers feel valued and secure.

Worker’s compensation insurance allows workers to feel secure in the workplace. If an individual slips or injures themselves in the office or while on duty, they have an insurance policy in place that allows them to claim compensation for injuries. When this is offered by a company, it instills a sense of confidence in your employees that you’re a trustworthy commercial operator.

Flexible Schedules

A fixed nine to five schedule is now a thing of the past, something that has become a fossil of the 20th century. Technology has advanced significantly in the last few decades, and significant global events have also precipitated the need for change. Nowadays, most employees expect a flexible schedule option of some form so they can organize their life around their everyday lives.

While a flexible schedule option is something of an expectation, it can still be offered as an incentive. With the rise in freelance lifestyles, employers need to offer a defacto freelance schedule as an option as well, which appeals to some workers more than others. Bearing in mind that productivity often depends on personality types, Flexi-schedules are advantageous.

Surprise Treats

What would you prefer, an office desk that has a strict no coffee policy, or one that says drink as much as you like as long as you complete the work on time? If you’re like most people, you prefer the last option because food and drink are important to general wellbeing levels throughout the day. Consider your approach to food in the office as a productivity incentive.

Not only should you consider food and drink in the office as a productivity approach, but you should also consider surprise treats. Now and then, order pizza for the office – perhaps at the end of the month or after a company success. Remember, in order for the food to be a surprise, it can’t be too routine, so mix it up and keep them guessing – but try not to disappoint them.

Achievement Recognition

As stated earlier, achievement recognition is such an important part of working life that many freelancers have given up on self-responsibility to pursue employed positions that reward their efforts with praise and commendation. Whether it is recognition of exemplary work in a meeting, or something more formal, always recognize employee achievements in the workplace.

Effective Ways To Keep Your Employees Motivated

January 9, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Image Credits

If you want to manage your business efficiently and ensure it succeeds, you will have to consider the well-being of your employees. But keeping your employees motivated and productive takes a little extra work.

Read on to learn a few straightforward and remarkable ways to keep your employees motivated and boost the productivity of your business.

Regular Team Building and Meetings

A company that works together is highly likely to win together. Therefore, as a business manager, you should always encourage employees to work together on projects, especially the most challenging ones.

Working together is an excellent way to source ideas and get diverse perspectives on a problem. Additionally, working together should not start and end in the office.

Foster friendships in the workplace through team-building events and activities. Team building activities will be a good time for forming strong bonds with them, knowing them personally, and understanding their different personalities and characters. You can also go ahead and encourage having meals together in the office. Get even more creative with it by including Asian sauces and other exotic dishes on the menu.

Invest In Your Workplace Aesthetics

The culture you cultivate in your business and the surrounding you select plays an essential role in attracting, retaining, and enhancing the productivity of your employees. Therefore, it is crucial to design an office space that is easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing, and inspiring.

Make the spaces large enough, free from noise and other distractions such as clutter and smoke. When designing the workspace, use cool colors and arrange stations to promote creativity and collaboration. Add a few motivation quotes at strategic positions and a few office plants.

Even better, hire an interior design professional to do the task for you and save on time.

Reward Small Wins

Everyone loves to be appreciated, and the same applies to your employees. Therefore it is important to take note of their efforts and reward them every time they do something excellent.

For example, if employees in your marketing department carried out a campaign that successfully increased sales, congratulate and award them and let the other employees know of their achievement.

As a result, this will boost their confidence and make them feel that their efforts are seen and appreciated. It will also motivate the other staff members to do better and get rewards for their exemplary work.

Encourage Open Communication

Communication in the workplace is more than briefings and workshops. It is also about listening to the grievances of your employees and operating from the same page.

It should be built on trust to allow your employees to talk freely and be aware that their actions affect the well-being of the business. Communicate your business goals to your employees, your expectations, and allow them also to add what they expect from you as their employer.

Making your interactions with them honest and open will promote accountability and make it easy for them to let you know of any issues or challenges they may be experiencing.

Conclusion

A motivated workforce means less stress for you as the employer and huge milestones for your business. Identify the things that matter most to your employees, and nurture them effectively with the tips on this list.