Employee Motivation: How to Get Your Employees to Give 100%

Management. Supervisor. Just those words alone are enough to make some employees tense. When you are in a management/supervisory role there is more to it than attendance, quality, and training. Your success as a manager is based on the success of your group of employees. Motivation is a big key to not only your success but the success of your employees. If you have motivation within your organization you will have attendance, quality and attitude automatically. There are people who are internally motivated. In other words they motivate themselves regardless of their management.

However, when you are dealing with a group of employees you can not count on any of them being self motivated. As a manager it is important that you take the time to understand your employees individually. Taking the time to do this will help you to find the key to motivation. Each individual is different and wants different things out of their job. There are people that get motivated by a simple pat on the back and a "great job" comment. There are others who are looking for more. Understanding the people who work for you not only gives you insight on how to motivate but also how to manage each individual.

Employee motivation will also be tied in with the respect your employees have for your management. It will be hard to motivate a group if they have no respect for their immediate manager or supervisor. This relationship has to be built and nurtured like any other. Employees don't have to like you on a personal level but I have learned from experience their professional respect for you will go a long way.

I took the following steps to work towards the professional respect I felt was an important part of our work environment.

•Upon taking on a new position or new employee make sure you clearly set your expectations.

•Take time to sit down with each employee and discuss "their" expectations of you as a manager .

•Be clear and concise in the requirements that are set forth by your company and your department.

•Take time to understand the management style needed for each employee.

•Communicate, Communicate, Communicate (I can't stress this enough)

•Meet with them on a weekly, monthly, bi monthly, basis to discuss their view on the department, guidelines, etc. It is important to show them that their opinions and concerns do hold weight with you and you want to hear their voice.

•Let them know that you are their voice and they will be heard.

Motivation is not as easy as it sounds. It is an ongoing process that takes time, consideration, and understanding the needs of each individual. There can be situations where you reward the whole group for a goal met but it will be important as you set group motivators you again understand what makes them tick. When you offer a department reward make sure you follow up with the department to get their feedback on the reward. What other motivators will work next time you would like to set a goal. There are some departments such as the group I managed that were very numbers oriented and required daily, weekly and monthly motivation. We had many goals set that needed to be maintained. Creativity on my part was a requirement not an option. If you belong to such a department there are many resources out there to help you when your ideas run stale. There were times when I knew my team was struggling to meet a new goal and they were putting in extra hours and not taking breaks/lunches to meet these goals. It was in those times I made it a strong priority to recognize the sacrifices they had made and I rewarded them accordingly. Anyone who worked in my department knew I expected a lot but that they would be rewarded for the hard work and dedication. There were many times I would allow the whole group extra time off for their lunch or go home a little early. Those happened to be rewards that never grew old and remained a constant motivator.

You will begin to see a decrease in productivity when the motivation drops and the sooner you work to turn it around the better off everyone will be.

Resources I found to be informative:
http://www.businessballs.com/motivation.htm
http://www.easytraining.com/motivation.htm
http://www.employer-employee.com/
http://www.confidencecenter.com/free.htm

Tips for motivation:
* Some tips listed are courtesy of managementhelp.org

•Be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is contagious.

•Make of list of three to five things that motivate each of your employees

•Reward it when you see it

•Celebrate achievements

It would be a good idea to meet with your department as a whole monthly (sooner if needed) to discuss any challenges and concerns the group faces. Take that time to also discuss the accomplishments that they as a team have had during that month. Every department has good and bad months but even in a bad month you should still look to find good it in and discuss it in the meeting. Consistently pointing out their accomplishments and rewarding for those accomplishments will allow the employee to feel good about themselves and the company.

Motivation has to be an ongoing part of your management. It can not come and go with the seasons. Consistency in your management and motivational styles will maintain success.