How To Motivate Employees

The difference between a good employee and a bad employee can be measured by their desire to be at work.  I am not talking about their desire to go to work and earn a pay check.  I mean the desire to show up with a smile and a can do / want to do attitude.  

Most of us have all been employees at one time or another.  As an employer you can create an environment of workers that want to do the tasks you have trained them to do.  Simply getting paid every two weeks is not enough to motivate an employee to work hard.  Pretty soon boredom in the work setts in and complacency takes shape.  

Unmotivated workers will never do more, go further, think outside of paper bag let alone a box.  Unmotivated workers soon become complainers about the menial tasks they are being made to perform.  Unmotivated employees soon begin sell their discontent to other workers.  It was the unmotivated and unhappy worker that convinced the other sailors on the Bounty to mutiny.  #muntinyonthebounty

On the other hand a motivated employee cannot wait to get to work and pick up where he or she left off the day before.  A motivated employee will stay late for no extra pay just for a little pride in a job well done.  A motivated employee anticipates the needs of the workspace and performs accordingly to the extent of his or her roles and abilities.  

So, how do you do motivate your staff?

1. Hire appropriate.  Hire the right people, not just the right resume.  When you don't, you can inadvertently create a hostile working environment.  
2. Do not be afraid to empower independent thought.  Praise good ideas and be thoughtful with rejecting bad ones.  When employees are given the opportunity to express creativity, you give some ownership.  You know how much you care for your business - relay as much of that to your workforce as possible!
3. Create team positive teams.  You may only have one team or, you might have eight different teams doing different but equally important things for success.  A team is not a clique.  A team strives to stand a part, to excel and make it's contribution the best that it can.  Doing small things to generate team dynamics or as the military calls it; esprit-decorum might involve printing shirts, hats, custom coffee mugs or organizing contests.  It's up to you how you do it but, just remember you are not the only person on your team!  

I will update this article next week for a how not motivate your crew.  For now, just focus on the positive!  

just to see a satisfied customer get what they need.  A motivated work