7 Must Know Motivators Employees Appreciate at All Times

7 Must Know Motivators Employees Appreciate at All Times

So often when I am contacted to work with a group of leaders I am asked, "What can we do to keep our employees motivated, focused and increasing productivity?"  Then that question is followed by the comment, "We have goals that we want to achieve."

First, let's address goals. Goals are great points of reference. However, my perspective is that the challenge is not setting goals but exceeding them. That requires putting together processes that keep people excited about their work/life and committed to creativity, responsibility and continuous success even after the goals have been achieved.

Motivation is not an occasional treatment. You can't motivate people but you can create the environment for them to be self motivated. I have interviewed from more than 350 organizations that I have worked with. If consistent results are important to you, pay attention to what these employees say matters.

1. People have to know and feel they belong. It's amazing what a sense of belonging does to an individual's ownership of what he/she does.

1. People need genuine appreciation of individual or group efforts from their leaders.

1. Present challenges to overcome. The Leavitt Group of Boise led by Dwayne Speegle identified the challenges they had to conquer as the economic downturn was just setting in. They have had to employ new insurance agents to cater to the growth they are experiencing even as other companies are downsizing. Probably the lack of challenges is the number one de-motivator of creativity, focus and productivity. Challenges reduce whining and water cooler gossiping.

1. They need opportunities to grow professionally and personally. One of the secrets of the success of the Boise State Football Team that I have worked with every year since 1998 is that of developing players to succeed beyond the football field.

1. Their families matter. Never expect an employee to be 100% focused, creative or productive at work, when if given a chance, they would rather be at their child's school event. A leader's interest in the welfare of employees' family, community involvement and even hobbies sends the signal that the leader cares!

1. Flexible work schedules wherever possible and so long as they don't interfere with productivity value.

1. Have fun at work.

A work environment that adopts the above stipulated attributes will benefit not only with better focus, but also with increased motivation and productivity. You will also see increased loyalty, limited conflicts, a more positive public image and a reduction in absenteeism and costly employee turnover rates. Enthusiastic, motivated employees work harder to acquire and retain customers and to save company resources.

The enthusiasm of employees and salespeople is contagious and you want customers infected. That's the bottom line.