One of the core components of your business has to be your employees. Without them, your business simply wouldn’t be able to run, let alone grow and make money. Therefore, it’s essential that you are able to keep your employees completely motivated so that they are productive and excited about doing their work. The happier your employees are, the better your business will look in the eyes of customers too, giving you a boost of popularity and trustworthiness. Here are seven ways that you can keep your employees motivated and grow your business through them.
Make Them Feel Special
Everyone likes to feel special sometimes, so if you, as a boss, can do that for your employees, you will give them plenty of motivation to want to work hard for you. One way to create this good feeling is to remember birthdays. The simple act of giving a card, wishing your employee happy birthday, and perhaps even bringing in or arranging for a cake or treats for the staff (and in particular the staff member whose birthday it is) can make a huge difference to them without taking much effort on your part.
First days at work can be difficult too, and if you want to make a good impression right from the start, you should celebrate a new employee and make them feel special too – make them feel as though they have definitely made the right choice in coming to work for you.
Create A Positive Environment
For many people, the majority of their time is spent at work, and therefore it needs to be a place where they can feel comfortable and relaxed. It needs to be a place that they enjoy going to – if they don’t, their work will suffer (as will their general well-being) and they will want to move on to another job with another employer, leaving you to deal with their absence and try to hire someone else to fill their place.
Creating a positive environment at work will encourage people to work for you for longer, but it will also give them a place to go that they enjoy. Make sure that your employees feel comfortable talking to you and feel free to share their ideas, for example. Being positive towards them will help to keep them extremely motivated.
Encourage Teamwork
One of the best and easiest ways to keep employees motivated is to encourage teamwork. When someone feels they are part of a team, they will work harder and be more productive; after all, they won’t want to let their team members down. Employees will learn to trust one another through teamwork too, and this creates a more positive experience in the workplace in general.
Have An Open Door Policy
If an employee is afraid to come to you, or simply doesn’t know whether they are ‘allowed’ to or not, having an open door policy will solve that problem and keep them much more motivated. An open door policy means that you are happy for your employees to come and see you at any time to talk about whatever they want to. It allows them to make their opinions known and to feel listened to, and this is a powerful motivator at work, and in life in general.
Provide Leadership
In many instances, employees will look to their employer for decisive leadership, and if you can give that to them, they will certainly feel a lot more motivated. Employees need to be able to trust their boss, and if you give them the leadership they need at work, that trust will be forthcoming.
Communicate Well and Often
Communication is key in running a successful business, and communicating with your employees is essential. If they don’t know what is expected of them, or what happens next, or even why they are being asked to do something, keeping them motivated is going to be difficult. A good employer will make sure that any instructions given are clear and concise, and will keep checking in to make sure that everything is going smoothly. They will also listen if an employee has a problem regarding the instructions and work to solve it.
