| Increasing motivation in your workplace can help improve performance, raise morale and boost productivity. While different motivators work for different types of employees, there are several common techniques for getting employees excited and energized for their jobs. If in doubt, ask employees what you can do for them to help them feel more motivated about their professional setting. Creative a Positive Work Environment Motivate employees by giving them an upbeat, positive work environment. Encourage teamwork and idea-sharing, and make sure staffers have the tools and knowledge to perform their jobs well. Be available when employees need you to be a sounding board or a dispute mediator. Eliminate conflict as it arises, and give employees freedom to work independently when appropriate. Set Goals Help employees become self-motivated by helping them establish professional goals and objectives. Not only does this give employees something to strive for, but your business benefits when goals are tied to corporate contributions. Make sure goals are reasonable and achievable so employees don’t get discouraged. Encourage them when they hit notable milestones. Provide Incentives Increase motivation by providing incentives to work toward. You can create individual incentives for each employee or team incentives to motivate employees as a group. Financial incentives can include cash prizes, gift cards or restaurant gift certificates. Nonfinancial incentives can include extra vacation days, compressed work weeks or choice office space or parking spots. Recognize Achievements Celebrate employee achievements through employee-of-the-month or star performer awards. Make a big deal out of accomplishments by celebrating at staff meetings. Print certificates or engrave plaques, issue a press release or post a notice on your company website. Recognize team accomplishments as well as individual efforts. Share Profits Motivate employees with the incentive of a profit-sharing program. In this way, employees increase their earnings when they help you increase yours. This approach simultaneously promotes collective goal-setting and teamwork. It also gives employees a sense of pride in ownership and can improve performance and reduce turnover as well as raise morale. Solicit Employee Input Regularly survey employees about their levels of satisfaction. You can conduct anonymous polls or hire an independent party to conduct a formal focus group. This will help you catch potential morale breakers before they get out of hand. Soliciting employee input also shows staffers that you care about their opinions and want to continually improve working conditions. Provide Professional Enrichment Encourage employees to continue their education or participate in industry organizations. Provide tuition reimbursement or send employees to skills workshops and seminars. If an employee is motivated to an upward career path, offer mentoring and job shadowing opportunities to keep them focused. Promote from within whenever possible, and create opportunities to help employees develop from a professional standpoint.
by Lisa McQuerrey, studioD | 
