How do you get your staff to work at the best of their ability? It can often be tricky to find what motivates your staff and makes them want to come to work. Once you discover this though you will be able to motivate your team by looking at each employee individually and working out what motivates them.
Each employee will have different things that motivate them. Some people will be motivated by money, some will be motivated by promotions and furthering their career while others will be motivated by more social wishes, i.e. the desire to make friends and working relationships.
As detailed above it can be very difficult to effectively manage even a small team when it comes to motivation. However, motivation is so important in business as your staff are the driving force behind making sales, facing customers, building your brand, etc.
So, how do you motivate your staff? The first thing you need to understand is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This, put simply, states that there are 5 levels of needs that all people have. These are:
€ Level 1: Physiological: Basic biological needs, i.e. food, water, sleep
€ Level 2: Safety and Security: need to a safe environment
€ Level 3: Belongingness: belong to a group; social needs
€ Level 4: Love and Esteem: the need to feel loved and respected
€ Level 5: Self-Actualisation: need for self-fulfilment
Maslow's theory wasn't developed exclusively for the workplace but when put into practice it is incredible effective. Look at it this way:
€ Level 1: Earning enough money to buy food, have somewhere to live, etc.
€ Level 2: Job security, working in a safe environment
€ Level 3: Having good working relationships, working in a good team
€ Level 4: feeling respected in your position
€ Level 5: feeling you are going somewhere in your job, reaching your career goals
Once you understand your teams' motivators you can begin to put this theory into practice. Assuming your team have level 1 and level 2 covered, they are earning enough money to be comfortable and work in a safe place, what can you as their boss do to meet their other needs?
For level 3 make sure you are having regular team building sessions (this can be as simple as a staff lunch) or encouraging staff to communicate and help each other out with problems.
Level 4 requires you to let the team members know how much you value them. Also, if one team member does something really well or goes above and beyond what is expected of them thank them for it. This could be a simple as a popping over to their desk and just saying thanks or, if the employee has really impressed you, it could be a bonus. Let them know that if they work hard it won't get unnoticed.
Level 5 is possibly the hardest for you as a manager to employ. However, by getting to know your employees and having regular appraisals and performance meetings you can ensure you are both on the same page with regards to where they see their career headed.
So, by employing motivation techniques and really getting to know what makes your employees tick you can ensure you have a happy team that is motivated to work for you. A motivated team is also proven to be more efficient and therefore your business will grow quicker, just by employing simple motivation techniques.
We are an Edinburgh HR Company that deals with all aspects of HR management. If you would like more information on employee motivation please contact us today.