Motivation Comes from Caring, Not Scaring
Fear should never be used as a motivation strategy. It may get you what you want now, but it will set you up for what you don’t want in the future in the form of employee anger, resentment, and lack of enthusiasm and commitment.
When employees feel that managers care about them and that they are perceived as respected and valuable members of the organization, they are more cooperative, enthusiastic, and committed to organizational goals, both in the present and in the future.
Employee Motivation Grows and Blossoms in the Right Environment
When employees feel nurtured, appreciated, acknowledged, and respected, they’ll give 100 percent of their time, effort, and commitment in return. The job of the manager is to create a work environment that provides employees with the opportunity to attain their goals and experience what they value most in their professional lives.
In this environment, communication is open and honest, coaching for success is ongoing, training for performance improvement is continuous, and creative problem solving is a way of life. Managers also need to provide sincere expressions of recognition, appreciation, and acknowledgment to nourish their employees’ feelings of self-worth.
Walk Your Talk
Modeling the behavior you want from your employees is the most effective way to change any behavior. If you want your employees to arrive on time, you should be in early or at least arrive at an accepted time. If you want motivated employees, you need to become a role model. In addition, becoming more aware of what motivates you will increase your understanding of what motivates other people.
Make Work Fun!
The research is clear: laughter is good not only for the soul but also for the mind and body. Having fun is a basic human need, and when it’s met in the workplace, productivity goes up. Appoint a “fun” committee, and come up with ways to bring enjoyment into your department. Bringing fun into the workplace lowers stress levels and provides opportunities for employees to build rapport with each other, which is the foundation for successful team building.
The Law of Attraction
The law of attraction states that whatever we focus on we bring to ourselves. If you focus on the lack of motivation in your employees, you’ll find more and more examples of it. When you seek to learn more about motivation and create an atmosphere that fosters it, you’ll find more examples of motivation in the workplace.
Ongoing Commitment
Motivating employees is an ongoing process because people are continually growing and changing. As they achieve something they want or value, they then seek to achieve more of the same. If motivation is not kept on your managerial front burner, you’ll see the fires in your employees slowly fade and die out.
