Motivating employees

Scope

Providing support and feedback lets employees know that the company values their efforts. Not all motivation techniques apply to all employees. Some employees prefer to keep to themselves and focus on work. Others require interpersonal support and positive feedback. Determine what motivates each type of employee and strive to provide that motivation. When tailoring the approach to motivation, treat all employees fairly and equally.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• Leading: Facilitating communication, providing feedback, setting an example, and building a team environment.
• Managing: Allocating resources, scheduling training, and handling the other “impersonal” aspects of the job.

Summary of requirements

A good work environment caters to the employees’ desires for:

• Autonomy and control,
• Support, and
• Challenges.

Motivating employees means both managing and leading. Managing means allocating resources, scheduling training, and handling the other “impersonal” aspects of the job. Leading means facilitating communication, providing feedback, setting an example, and building a team environment.

Autonomy and control. Show employees that they are trusted to handle responsibility and give them flexibility in completing tasks. Empowering, rather than managing employees, grants them freedom. Constant oversight can increase anxiety and reduce an employee’s of flexibility.

Balance this trust by ensuring that managers, supervisors, or other mentors are still available to provide oversight if the employee needs assistance. Granting freedom does not mean isolating employees.

Support. Employees want to feel that their work and their contributions are important. Some need to know they are valued as people in addition to being valued as employees. Showing support may mean walking around to ask how a project is going, or providing positive feedback and pointing out things that employees are doing correctly.

• Feedback. Giving positive feedback does not equal giving compliments. Know the difference between complimenting an employee (“you’re a good worker”) and giving positive feedback on a task or skill (“you handled that customer with professionalism and courtesy”).
• Frequency. Some employees need more frequent praise than others. In particular, younger employees and new employees generally need more positive feedback.
• Additional support. Sometimes, employees need support that cannot be provided in the work environment. Employees who carry around the burdens of their personal life may be distracted. Thus, many companies offer employee assistance programs (EAPs) to provide services from psychological counseling to financial planning.

Challenges. Employees can get bored with repetitive work. Work that is mentally challenging or stimulating utilizes problem-solving skills and provides a sense of achievement. Oddly enough, the reward for hard work can sometimes be more responsibility.

Attempt to determine what motivates the employees. An employee review that includes a discussion of what the employee enjoys about work, what is not enjoyable, and what the company can do to challenge the employee, might allow for better job placement or task assignment.

Motivation “do’s” and “don’ts.”

Situations or actions that can damage employee morale and motivation include:

• Poorly communicating expectations,
• Excessive rules and restrictions,
• Activities that are “removed” from production (excessive meetings),
• Internal competition that leads to “in-fighting,” and
• Giving criticism without positive feedback or suggestions for corrections.

Situations or actions that can enhance and increase/maintain motivation include:

• Providing variety and rotation to break up “routine” work,
• Defining and clearly communicating goals,
• Showing support and giving constructive criticism for mistakes,
• Allowing flexibility in how the work is done, and
• Trusting employees to handle responsibilities.