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5 Practical Ideas to Keep Your Employees Motivated

Guest post by: Guy Farmer

Article Overview: Many leaders are skilled at getting results and productivity from their employees but are at a loss about how to keep people motivated. Learn five key things you can do to motivate your employees and reap the rewards of a happier workplace.

5 Practical Ideas to Keep Your Employees Motivated

It's a challenge to to keep employees motivated in any organization. Leaders often mean well and want to motivate their employees but see less than stellar results when the company picnic or employee of the month program yields limited results. Workplace stresses and demands can adversely affect how employees feel about the organization and their own performance. Enlightened leaders can reduce these stresses by doing some practical things to create a culture that values employees long-term instead of occasionally. Practice these common-sense ideas over time to build an organization that really motivates employees to do great work and enjoy their workplace.

1. Praise your employees. Notice people doing things well and tell them you value their efforts. Praise behaviors that you want people to keep doing. Praise is about reinforcing positive behaviors, not reminding people what they do wrong so stay away from "constructive" criticism or other forms of "helping."

2. Make the time to practice motivational activities. Create an ongoing program in your workplace where leaders and employees celebrate each other. Do it weekly and commit to doing it long-term. For example, set aside twenty minutes weekly and facilitate a group meeting where people praise each other and celebrate accomplishments.

3. Assign people fulfilling work or let them choose the work they do. Identify your staff’s strengths and abilities and assign them work based on things they enjoy doing and actually are motivated to do. Employees are more likely to stay energized when they work on tasks that interest them in some way rather than being handed assignments from above with no input.

4. Get rid of power differentials. Nothing sucks the energy out of a workplace more quickly than a leader having a favorite employee or clique who receive special consideration. Treat everyone equally and demonstrate through your actions that each individual is vital to your organization’s success.

5. Keep your efforts going. Motivation isn’t a one-time activity; it benefits from deliberate attention and commitment starting with leadership. Focus on developing a long-term motivation strategy in your workplace and keep it thriving by involving your leadership and staff and giving them the time and resources to do it.

Motivating your employees requires ongoing work and insightful leadership that provides ongoing support. Try the five ideas we’ve talked about here and practice them until they become part of your workplace culture. You'll find that the process takes some effort but think of what you'll accomplish with more highly motivated employees.

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Article Tags: employees, leadership, motivated, motivation, motivational, praise, productivity, rewards



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