15 Oct How Business Leaders Can Motivate Employees to Work

It isn’t an uncommon practice for talent managers to find creative ways to motivate their employees. It doesn’t take an expert to observe the correlation between motivation and productivity. In fact, many organizations are still conducting various studies to explore this correlation within the context inside their organizations. 

A recent study in Ghana demonstrated that job design and environment as significant factors for teachers’ motivation within its municipality. The study further elaborates that these factors were strong predictors of performance. Another research supports the positive relationship between these two concepts by proving that intrinsic rewards can be a great determinant for employee performance.

However, even with this knowledge, motivating employees isn’t a walk in the park. Talent managers such as HR representatives and global mobility professionals are now left with the burden of crafting new strategies that cater to the varying needs of today’s talent. 6Q, an innovative product from a digital agency in Australia that provides resources and tools to help businesses understand their employees, shares the same sentiments. They share their tips on how talent managers can motivate their workforce.

Become great communicators

It’s sufficient to say that without great communication, managers will most likely be dealing with unmotivated team members. Team members look up to their leaders for direction, and direction should always be communicated properly from top management down to the employees. 

Emplify, an employee engagement software company, suggests sending spontaneous messages to express employee appreciation. Noting and celebrating the wins of employees can significantly boost morale through personal messaging channels. In addition, the SaaS company encourages talent managers to leave thank you notes to recognize employees’ hard work amid difficult circumstances. With health protocols in place, companies can opt to send letters via delivery services. Sometimes a good-old-fashion letter can come a long way compared to digital ones.

Try to listen more

Communication should be two-way. In today’s time, great insights can be gathered from listening to employees’ concerns, ideas, and opinions. Creating strategies for the workforce solely from ideas generated from top management won’t suffice with the modern-day employee needs. It’s only fitting that feedback from the workforce themselves should be taken into account to be able to formulate a more inclusive strategy.

In a podcast by Talentsoft, a leading European Human Capital Management software company conversed with Peter Griffith, co-founder and CEO of the Mind Takeaway. The executive stated, “If you listen to people, you create that trust, you create that safety…and, therefore, when you go to delegate stuff, you’re likely to get better results.”

Recognize life outside work

While entrepreneurs would desire an employee’s perception of work as something enjoyable and motivating, that’s not the case for the most part. There are times when employees see themselves working for the company, rather than working with the company. This entails a workforce that isn’t motivated to see the businesses they are working for grow. Instead, they just look forward to the next paycheck.

To avoid this negative perception of work. Employers and talent managers are encouraged to push employees to take every opportunity to enjoy designated leaves to unwind and spend time with themselves and their loved ones. At the end of the day, an unmotivated worker becomes a liability in the company.

Believe in the power of reciprocity

Robert Cialdini, author of In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, believes in the principle of reciprocity. He discusses in his book that human beings respond to gifts positively and oftentimes make the gift-receiver feel indebted toward the gift-giver. Business leaders can apply this principle to their workforce. Small gestures of kindness can go a long way. It can be as simple as treating them for lunch. 

Believe in the power of likeability

Another principle of persuasion by Cialdini is likeability. It doesn’t take a genius to figure employees are more than willing to work more diligently for an amiable manager than an unpleasant one. The World of Work Project recommends business leaders strive to be liked, especially those they’re working closely with to earn their influence. This way, managers gain the ability to delegate tasks seamlessly and build a wider circle of influence within their professional network.

It is advantageous for business leaders to hone their soft skills to achieve a considerable level of persuasion and influence over the people they lead. So if they have any reason to believe that they lack the skills to motivate their workforce, it might be high time to invest in resources to fill that gap. In the end, they will reap the benefits of having a highly motivated workforce.