An age-old question: How do we keep our employees motivated? It’s no secret that employee motivation plays a key role in an organization’s success. “Motivation is measured by the level of commitment, drive, and energy that a company’s workers bring into work each day.” (1) Motivated people to have a positive attitude, less absenteeism, and feel more job satisfaction overall.
When employees are motivated in the workplace, they are more likely to talk positively about their company with others. Motivated employees spread your company’s good name because they’re feeling connected to their work and feel valued as team members. A worker that is inspired and connected to their work or leader’s vision can increase their productivity in support of what the team is trying to achieve. Want your organization to reap the benefits of having motivated workers? You can achieve this by utilizing a two-way communication style to start increasing your employee’s success today!
On top of helping your employees to stay motivated, this communication style can foster an environment where people feel comfortable sharing thoughts, ideas, and opinions. True two-way communication opens a back-and-forth dialog between management and employee that can build engagement. When an employee feels engaged with your process, you can work together to achieve company goals with a shared idea of what’s important.
Part of the back-and-forth dialog means encouraging feedback from your workers, acting on that feedback, and responding to their ideas and questions. Respond or answer questions as openly and honestly as you can to build consistent communication and give employees an understanding of what’s happening around them within the organization. Helping your employees to understand the “why” behind their work and what role it plays in the company’s success can help them can become more interested in both their work and helping the company in reaching their next milestone or goal.
Recognizing when someone makes a thought-provoking contribution or brings up a great idea is important, but so is shedding light on when your employee is meeting or exceeding your expectations. “Recognizing when an employee meets and exceeds expectations is all about communicating appreciation and value… simply praising your team members for doing good work can have a tremendous impact on employee morale.” (2) By recognizing your employee for their contributions, you are actively reinforcing the idea that they are a trusted, important part of the team and that their input is valued. Bringing value to a worker’s input validates your employees and confirms that their contributions are important, they’ll feel motivated to keep contributing and you’ll likely see an increased interest in their work in return.
Be sure to include your employees when setting goals for both the team and individually. Find out what motivates each team member, as this may vary from person to person. Once you address what motivates them, help your employee to find ways to improve their work by brainstorming with them. Talk with them and find out what improvements they’d like to see in their own work and create reachable milestones to get there. Manage expectations by setting realistic expectations; make sure you set goals that are attainable and that your employee has the resources to complete them. Helping your worker to see why these improvements should be made and how they can get there allows them to become invested in their own improvement.
Motivating your employees through improved communication will take practice and consistency. An important take-a-way is “When it comes to the wellbeing of your workforce, employee communications are your best friend. Not only do they have a positive impact on employee motivation, but they also improve employee happiness, loyalty, and their mental health and wellbeing, too – because effective communications contribute to employees feeling trusted and respected.” If you take some time out of your day to frequently and consistently communicate with your employees, you’ll find that in return you will have happy, loyal, motivated workers that are essential to the growth and success of your organization.