Motivation for managers: how to motivate employees

As a manager, you know that when your staff is motivated, workplace morale and productivity increases, both of which are great for business. But, when it comes to motivating a team of employees, knowing where to begin can prove difficult for many managers. We have you covered with 5 practical steps that you can take to enhance motivation within your staff members. 

Motivate yourself

Although you, as a leader can be the most influential person in motivating others, you can also be the greatest barrier. It is unrealistic to expect to have a motivated workforce if you are not well motivated yourself. The first step in leading others is to model the behaviours that you would like to see from them. This will not, of itself, lead to motivation in the others, but it is a vital first step.

Enhance working conditions

There are certain factors that concern general working conditions that can act as demotivators if they do not satisfy the needs or requirements of staff. Simply getting these right will not immediately motivate staff, but getting them wrong can de-motivate them.
The factors to consider here include physical environment, schedule, pay, job title and responsibility, job security, and communication.

Get motivated every week with the best content from our newsletter #MotivationalMonday. 

Select motivated staff

Assuming that you have enhanced your own motivation, and have optimised the basic working conditions, the best place to start staff motivation is with their initial selection. Selecting staff that have strong inbuilt self-motivation will make the whole subsequent process of motivation that much easier and more effective. Asking questions at interview about the kinds of things that motivate them, will give some insight into the extent to which they are already motivated for the role.
For instance:
“What attracts you to this particular position?”

“How do you know whether you have done a good job?”

“Tell me about a time when you have overcome a difficulty at work.”

Identify key motivators

The next step is to identify the key motivators for your staff.  Although everybody has their own set of priorities, it is nevertheless useful to appreciate that there tends to be some common ground amongst many people. As an example, in one piece of research where workers were asked, “What are the things that make you feel good at work?”
The top 10 responses were:
➢ Achievement
➢ Working with others
➢ Recognition
➢ Helping Others
➢ Varied and Interesting Work
➢ Financial Reward
➢ Good Working Atmosphere
➢ Empowerment
➢ Solving Problems
➢ Physical Environment

Give individual attention

At this point, you will have discovered the main motivating factors for each member of staff that reports directly to you. This will enable you to have meaningful discussions with them about how their needs and desires might be better accommodated within the overall business.
For instance, it might be possible to make specific adjustments to their job, or the way that they work, that will make a significant difference to their personal motivation and thus to their productivity within the company. From these discussions, you might also find ways to improve the overall structure of the business, or perhaps introduce procedures or policies that can have an important effect on everybody within the business.

On the whole, employees respond well to a caring employer. If you show a genuine interest in them as people, rather than just as instruments of the business, they will be more likely to return this attention as an extra commitment both to you and to your business.

Get motivated every week with the best content from our newsletter #MotivationalMonday.