How to motivate employees

Productivity is at the core of each and every company.  Productivity means employees have to be equally motivated to produce desirable results.  Motivation can be both intrinsic and extrinsic. 

Extrinsic motivation means employees are doing their jobs based on an effective motivation and reward system. An employee may be lacking in internal motivation but with the right kind of extrinsic motivation from the employer, one may end up doing their job wholeheartedly and delivering the best results. It is the job of Human Resources personnel to come up with effective ways to motivate employees in different work settings.

1. Motivating Employees as a manager

Ideally, employees should be motivated enough to accomplish goals as the reward for the accomplishments is remuneration.  However, in some cases, there may be a lack of motivation within employees as they do their tasks.  As a manager, one should identify where employees are lacking and effectively deal with the problem.

 Manager-employee relationship

An important factor for productivity is a positive manager-employee relationship. Employees will be productive in environments where they are treated with respected and in a civil manner.  Employees should also feel free to voice out their opinions without being afraid of negative consequences from the manager.

1. Motivating employees without money

An economic downturn may occur once in a while and it is therefore important to consider other ways to motivate employees that do not necessarily involve money.

Independence in the workplace

According to Pink (2011), employees are more productive in environments where they have a degree of independence over their own work.  Instead of dictating what the incumbents get to do, giving employees a degree of autonomy over their own tasks will motivate them to do better in their work.

Recognise employee achievements

Top performers in an organisation will always be motivated to do better if they realise their accomplishments are being noticed.  Incentive schemes are a common motivation method in the workplace however verbal praise can go a long way in making an employee feel appreciated and in motivating them to do more.

3. Motivating a difficult employee

Often times, a manager encounters a difficult employee who does not seems to comply with procedures.  Despite the employee getting their work done, it may be really difficult to work with such an employee

Take time to listen

Some subordinates may become difficult when they feel their complaints are not being heard.  Take time to talk to employees and listen to their grievances. Some employees may feel that they are not being listened to and they may resort to negative attitudes in the workplace as a way to voice out their displeasure. Once an employee feels they are being heard and addressed, there may be a significant change in the way they conduct themselves in the job, making it a lot easier to work with them.

Lindah Mavengere is a Business Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a business management and human resources consulting firm.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindah-mavengere-552b32b2/

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