Do you know if your employees are motivated? How do you keep them going on every job without being the owner who is everywhere, all the time? You are only one person, so it is necessary for you to create a self-motivating work environment. Establish a company where your employees find it within themselves to always do the best job possible.
People are motivated in different ways, but there are some common themes and ways to improve your company culture and, in turn, create self-motivated employees. Follow these four steps to bring positivity and enthusiasm to your company’s work environment.
1. Have strong leadership and a shared vision.
Leading your employees and your company requires visionary thinking, according to Tom Hudgin, president of Wilmington Quality Associates. It’s important to have a dream, vision and a goal with a timeline that you share with your team. Work to influence your team with long-range thinking.
Leaders in your company need to be able to influence others by being honest, authentic and confident, while also doing the right things for the right reasons, says Hudgin. Vision is the key to strong leadership.
Be sure to share the company’s vision with every employee. Having a vision will help remove fear of the unknown and fear of failure among employees. Allow for creativity among all employees and the leadership team by encouraging them to experiment and explore new ideas and processes.
2. Create goals for individuals, the team and the company.
Setting goals is a crucial step in completing any task and being successful. Employees at your company will be motivated by rewards and consequences of attaining their goals, both for the company and for their personal ambitions.
Set goals for employees that cause them to want to strive for excellence and go beyond survival by moving out of their comfort zone. Leaders should provide time frames for goals that are reasonable and attainable, which will help balance expectations and reality. Setting goals will encourage employees to make commitments and strive to meet deadlines.
3. Show appreciation for every employee.
One of the most important things company leaders can do is to build relationships with the employees and invest time to get to know them. Managers must create a work environment where people enjoy what they do and feel like they have a purpose within the company. Show appreciation by giving appropriate awards. Employees who feel appreciated will be more likely to be committed to their jobs as well as to the customers they work with. Hudgin says to pay attention to the middle performers. Don’t ignore progress in performance because that will extinguish it, but also don’t ignore slippage in performance because that will encourage it.
4. Treat employees fairly.
Employees won’t feel encouraged or motivated if they are not treated fairly, are micromanaged or are not offered the chance for growth. Part of the vision of a company needs to include an investment in training, education and opportunities for growth and learning new skills. This will keep employees challenged while giving a clear path of what is expected of them. Knowing there are chances to grow and opportunities for promotions are key for employees to stay onboard.
Provide feedback but never threaten an employee’s job or their income. Hudgin also recommends instilling a sense of urgency regarding customer service. Employees will show attitude improvements when they enjoy their tasks with minimal repetitive work that requires them to have courage and think for themselves. People stay at companies because of their attachment to their co-workers and customers. A good job fit and having the opportunity to share ideas with trust and respect from supervisors will also help employees maintain their motivation.
Read more: 5 Rules to Building a Stronger Team