Why is motivating employees so important? Motivated employees contribute to productivity and success, which also improves workplace culture.
So how do you motivate them? The best way to motivate employees is to clearly communicate the bigger picture and what targets to hit.
What happens when motivation increases? Employees achieve more and enjoy their work in the process.
There are 4 things you can do to motivate your employees. We listed them below…
“Anytime humans are involved in anything, motive is an area to be dealt with. Why should an employee give his all for you and your company?”
How to Improve Employee Motivation
Employee motivation is all about knowing how to communicate with your team. In order to create a culture of achievement, you must commit to helping your employees stay motivated.
Help your employees understand you want them to be winners. Being a winner is all about how you define success. Step in and help them! Motivation is minimal when there’s no success or achievement. On the flip side, motivation skyrockets when you feel like you’re winning.
1 – Give Employees Direction
Give employees direction on the meaning of success in their respective jobs. Set a target for them to aim at, a direction for them to pursue. Once they visualize what success looks like for them, there is much more employee motivation to achieve success. Make an example of your best employees by rewarding them. This is one of the best ways for employees to see what success looks like. Remember, it’s impossible to hit a bullseye if you have no idea where the target is!
2 – Give Employees Goals
Now that you’ve established a target, set meaningful and manageable tasks so they learn what it’s like to win. Give them goals they can accomplish so they begin to understand what success tastes like. Chasing goals and knocking them out each week is a great way to experience the snow-ball effect of motivation and achievement. Then set that big, audacious goal. By building their confidence in the little things, they will be empowered to know they can win and they can meet expectations in the big things as well.
Unbridled Elaine
This idea is perfectly encapsulated in the story of a racehorse named Unbridled Elaine. A couple of weeks before the 2001 Breeder’s cup, Unbridled Elaine was the strong favorite to win. But due to an unfortunate sequence of events, she dropped off the radar and everyone lost interest— and rightfully so.
On the day of the big race, she had a poor start. With 3/8 of a mile left, she was second to last, trapped in the middle of the pack. But right when it seemed like the race was over for her, her jockey Pat Day gave her the “go” to run. She moved to the outside, and ran the race of her life. With giant strides, Unbridled Elaine sprinted across the finish line, and won the 2001 Breeder’s Cup. People were on their feet, cheering in amazement. The race was one for the books.
But it was the training that happened before the race that was most important. Before the cup, Unbridled Elaine was strategically placed in races to win. Her owner, Roger Davenport, wanted her to know what victory tasted like. He didn’t want a horse that 1) was okay with losing or 2) didn’t know what it took to win. He placed her in races where he knew she would learn what victory felt like. And then he put her in one of the most prestigious cups – The Breeders Cup – to win. The day of the race, she was calm and cool in the hands of her jockey. She knew what she had to do to win. So when Day gave her the “go,” she immediately responded and did what she was bred and trained to do – win.
3 – Train Them to Achieve
Unbridled Elaine’s story is incredible, and has strong parallels for management. If your team has never tasted victory, and doesn’t know what it takes to achieve work goals, how can you expect them to bring home the gold?
Aristotle said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation… We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” If you want a team that excels, you must train them in continued excellence.
Train them to achieve. Teach them to win.
Make it clear to your team that while motivation comes and goes, the ability to stay focused on the process will lead to achievement and the excitement of motivation.
4 – Embrace a Winning Atmosphere
Once you have built up a culture of achievement in your workplace, it will ignite a fire in your employees. People like to win; they like to feel good when they come home.
A strong winning atmosphere makes people proud to work, and causes them to speak about their work in a positive way. It will empower them to promote your business as well! It may seem like an unbelievable domino effect, but speech is a powerful, powerful tool and has a tremendous impact on employee motivation.
More on Motivation
Are you looking for a way to motivate your employees? You need a way to get your employees excited about their jobs again… But you’ve got no idea where to start, where to get the awards, or how to keep it running smooth.
All that changes NOW. You just found MyEmployees, and the done-for-you employee of the month system that handles all your needs and wants.
There are dozens of real-life stories of managers (just like you) who use this program to turn their business around. Their employees come to work because they want to, not because they have to.
Do you need a way to motivate your employees, but don’t want it to be more complicated than it has to be? MyEmployees is the answer you’ve been looking for.
For more great leadership tips, check out…
Becoming a Great Leader – Part 3: Attitude
When you care about what you’re doing, your employees will care about what they’re doing….
Put the LEADER in ETL
Tips for Leadership Success: 12 Point To Do List to Become a Top 10% Manager (updated 12/8/23)
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