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12 Simple Ways to Increase Motivation in the Workplace

12 Simple Ways to Increase Motivation in the Workplace

January 24, 2022

Workplace motivation can make or break your business. A motivated workforce will show up every day ready to do incredible work, but an unmotivated workforce will show up looking for obstacles.

The interesting thing about motivation is that it is contagious. If you can foster an atmosphere that inspires motivation, then your workers will pass it between themselves. But if motivation drops for just one person, this can quickly spread between teams and lead to a difficult working environment.

If you’re curious about how you can foster an environment that motivates your team, rather than leaving them feeling deflated, read on to learn our top tips.

Highlight good work

Perhaps the simplest way to motivate your teams is to take the time to acknowledge good work. Individuals are more likely to get a sense of achievement from their role if they feel that their hard work is recognised. If someone shows up to work every day, does incredible work, but never has this acknowledged, you can guarantee their motivation won’t last long.

Leaving employees feeling underappreciated and taken for granted is probably the quickest way to kill motivation in your business. So take the time to acknowledge when things are going great, and you will soon have a workplace that focuses on the positives rather than taking anything for granted.

Make your goals SMART

Individuals often respond well to goals, but only when they are SMART. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Setting smaller, realistic goals that can be achieved in a shorter time is far better than setting long-term goals that might feel out of reach.

Workers will have a far greater sense of achievement when they can hit a weekly or monthly goal, rather than leaving them hanging as they try to achieve a quarterly or annual goal. These goals also need to be specific enough that there are no grey areas about whether or not the goal was achieved.

So, instead of setting the goal of increasing sales one month, give the team an achievable and realistic goal to aim for. For example, you could ask them to increase sales by 10%.

12 Simple Ways to Increase Motivation in the Workplace CMD Recruitment

Celebrate the wins

There’s nothing worse than hitting a goal and then having nothing to show for it. When your team smashes their targets, you need to make sure you are acknowledging their achievements. Finding a way to celebrate the wins will allow you to create an atmosphere where accomplishments are always acknowledged.

Celebrating all of the little wins in your business will help your team to recognise that their contribution is not only noticed but essential. By making individuals feel valued, you can increase their motivation in the workplace.

While people might not feel 100% motivated all of the time, they will feel appreciated, which will help them to keep showing up with a positive attitude.

Encourage breaks

A tired and cranky team will soon run low on motivation. If an army marches on its stomach, you need to make sure that your workers are taking their assigned breaks and getting away from their desks to eat and drink.

Stocking the staff room with refreshments such as tea and coffee will encourage people to take breaks, but you should also give them a place to relax that isn’t at their desks. Comfortable seating in the break room will allow them to take regular breaks.

You should also encourage individuals to take their lunch break and make sure they aren’t eating at their desks. While the occasional desk lunch might be okay when a person is feeling incredibly motivated to get stuff done, this shouldn’t become the norm.

Prioritise health

The health and well-being of employees is an important factor in the productivity of a company. A healthy workforce means that they are more likely to be motivated and productive.

Encourage your employees to live a healthy lifestyle by providing them with free fruit, water, and wellness classes. Healthy snacks can also help keep them energised throughout the day.

Making it easy for workers to take time off when they need it will also have a huge impact on productivity. If workers feel that they have to keep slogging away, no matter how sick they feel, they will bring down the whole workforce. There’s also the risk they could spread illness and damage productivity by getting your whole team sick.

Let them in on the bigger picture

The people who are with us in the office are not just colleagues; they are partners in our success. We should encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas on the bigger time, and this will help them to be more productive.

We can do this by giving them a bigger picture of what is happening in the company. This way they will know that their input is valued and they will be more motivated to work with us.

It’s easy to feel like a small cog in a big machine, and nothing will zap your productivity quite like this feeling. To avoid leaving your team feeling that their contribution doesn’t matter, make sure you keep them clued up on what’s going on behind the scenes and how their input is helping.

12 Simple Ways to Increase Motivation in the Workplace CMD Recruitment

Be transparent

Transparency in the workplace is a great way to encourage workers to be more productive. It also helps in building trust between the employees and the employer.

Some companies are transparent about their success rates. This helps people know what to expect from the company when they are applying for jobs or working there.

From celebrating successes to updating targets, don’t be secretive about the things that matter to your team. A little bit of openness will go a long way.

Share you purpose

Workers will find it easier to stay motivated when they have a cause or a purpose. Defining your purpose and sharing this with your team will not only help to motivate existing workers but will also help to attract the right kind of people to your company.

While some people are incredibly motivated by money, others value less tangible results such as feeling like they are doing some good in the world. Recognising that not everyone is motivated by the same thing will have a huge impact on how you motivate your team.

Give workers freedom

The current work environment is not a healthy one. The pandemic changed the way many of us think about productivity and we learned that the office might not be the best place to get work done.

To help improve productivity, we should encourage workers to have more freedom in how they work and where they work from. We can do this by allowing them to work from home or on flexible hours, for example. Trusting individuals to know how to achieve the best productivity is a huge part of motivating your team.

12 Simple Ways to Increase Motivation in the Workplace CMD Recruitment

Offer security

Workers who feel secure in their jobs are more productive and more committed to their work. Job security means different things to different people. Some want a competitive wage and benefits package, while others want the opportunity for regular performance reviews to keep them on track. Others will be motivated by the opportunity to enhance their skills through training and development.

A big part of learning how to increase motivation is recognising that what works for one person might not work for another, so you need to be prepared to listen to your team and respond to what they need. No one will feel motivated if they feel like their job is always hanging in the balance, so take it time to ensure they have a sense of security.

Be consistent

We can encourage workers to be more productive and motivated by being consistent with the rewards. Consistency is an important factor in motivating employees. It can be achieved through establishing a framework for rewards that they can rely on.

There is nothing that will crush motivation faster than having a reward taken away or simply not offered without warning. So, if your team are used to getting a Christmas bonus, write this into their contracts so they have some consistency to rely on.

And just as rewards are consistent, reprimands should be consistent, too. If workers see other members of the team getting away with things that they have been punished for, this can create a sense of unease and competition that will damage motivation.

Have fun

Not every day is going to be a trip to Alton Towers, but there are things you can do to make the workday more fun. You could introduce a weekly breakfast morning, encourage staff to share their skills with one another through presentations and demonstrations, or you could simply have one Friday a month when everyone gets to clock off early.

Whatever you choose, make sure that it is consistent and reliable, so that your team know that when they are properly motivated and showing up at work with the right attitude, they will be rewarded for their efforts.

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