Last Updated on April 19, 2016 by Tim
Every employee in a company wants to do work that is interesting, brings them a good salary and bestows them with a proper recognition for their contributions. But keeping them motivated needs a little more effort than just money and the occasional thanking. It needs a paradigm that considers employees as human beings who need to be nurtured in all ways possible.
For many, workplace has turned out to be a place of disenchantment. This is generally true for most large workplaces, but especially true for companies in the outsourcing services (back office, customer care, data entry, etc) industry, banking industry (monotonous, clerical roles), insurance industry (high pressure jobs), etc. Employees, who begin enthusiastically with lots of creativity, become more and more helpless with every passing day, and most of the times they don’t have much option to come out of this daily rut. They still need money to support themselves and their families. But they become disillusioned, bored and fatigued from their workplace. And this affects productivity.
As a business owner or a senior HR executive you should be able to see the signs – growing office politics, groupism, absenteeism, high attrition rate, missed deadlines, underachieving sales teams – these are all signs of a demotivated workplace. And they way to turn the tide is not just offering more salaries and commissions. Employees, as human beings crave a workplace that values their work and them, that helps them enrich their lives professionally and personally – basically that considers them as human being and not just work horses.
Here are some ways to motivate your employees organically.
Always promote and encourage new ideas
Always chew upon it. A staff member of your company comes up to you with a new idea. Even if it’s a bad idea, instead of rejecting it outright, give it a sincere thought. Look out for the means to implement those ideas. There is no harm if it does not turn out to be a success. Instead, the failure can be used as a motivational tool to do better the next time.
Encourage a pet and children friendly workplace
Pets are loved and adored by a huge population. Developing a pet-friendly and child friendly office will show your care and concern towards their desires and make them feel important which will positively affect their relationship with the company. Working mothers can, in emergency situations bring along their toddlers to the workplace. It will show that you care for your workers needs.
Try to give them a longer break
This tip is very useful and it gives the workers a boost to finish their work as early as possible and escape to their own worlds. In order to increase their productivity, you need to keep them active and alive, and this can only happen if they have a meaningful life beyond workplace. Be sensitive towards their needs and give them a leisure time on Fridays because after all they are not machines. Longer breaks may mean less working time but the enhanced productivity will more than make up for it.
Give them a day to look forward to at their workplace
Keep parties once in a while to celebrate their birthdays and special days because they are a valuable resource to your company and their big day should not go unnoticed. At the end of the day, life and relationship come above work and money. And they are your corporate family in a way.
Communicate, interact and be warm
Nothing is better than a warm, welcoming place to work at and if you are fortunate enough to have a boss who treats you more like a human being than a machine, then life automatically turns out good. Help, discuss, smile, interact and communicate as much as possible. Show them that work is something you worship and they are an integral part of your work.
Give them a good time
A few sources of entertainment for a certain period during the day, like music in office, will give them a peace of mind and make them more effective for your company. In today’s fast changing world and all the stresses one has to face in order to keep up with the pace, one cannot always work in an effective way. So, it is important to help them relax and give them something to smile about.
Author Bio
Shiv Pandey is a writer, marketer and professional blogger and consults SMEs and start-ups on how to market their business online with content oriented inbound marketing strategy.
