Written by: Rachel Jackson
When you’re running a business, your team is your most important asset and biggest resource. Without them the business could not function so it’s essential that your employees feel encouraged and inspired on a daily basis. In order to achieve great results, you should be constantly thinking about ways you can motivate and inspire your team. Here are some ways you can steer your employees in the right direction and achieve your goals together.
1. Share Your Vision And Set Clear Goals
You can only motivate and inspire your team if they know what they are working towards. Make sure your employees are aware of your vision and what you’re ultimate goals for the business are. This encourages everyone to work together to achieve better results. As well as this, regularly set clear and measurable goals that are framed by this vision so that you and your staff can track progress and they are able to see their success in a tangible way. This cultivates productivity and helps employees to feel valued and motivated.
2. Communicate With Your Staff
Part of clear goal-setting relies on effective communication with your team. Communication is a two-way street and you should make sure that there is a constant flow of communication between you and your employees. This way you can not only keep them up-to-date with what needs to be done but you can also listen to their ideas, opinions and feedback. This will ultimately have a positive impact on your business as they may approach dilemmas in a different way to you. Check in regularly with your team and give them the opportunity to come and talk to you. Make sure you are available to contact and be open and approachable in your attitude to communication. This will make your staff feel involved in the business and its operations which will further motivate them to achieve better results.
3. Encourage Teamwork
The best kind of companies are those where everyone works together cohesively. Encouraging and promoting teamwork boosts productivity because it makes employees feel less isolated and helps them to feel more engaged with their tasks. You can do this by regularly holding team-building exercises and opportunities for your team members to bond and get to know one another. Think about this when hiring new staff by considering how they will fit into the team and the workplace culture. Even if someone is experienced in a role, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will work well with the rest of your employees.
Related: 5 Things Your Employees Want out of Their Performance Reviews
4. A Healthy Office Environment
Our environment has a significant impact on our productivity, contentment and creativity. Healthy and happy employees are more likely to feel motivated and engaged. Create a space that is enjoyable to work in and an office where your employees want to spend their time. Be conscious of privacy, noise, air quality, natural light, areas to relax and the ambience. Encourage healthy attitudes by offering healthy snacks and access to exercise, whether this is in the form of a gym membership or participating in team exercise classes. By promoting healthy habits you can help your staff to maintain their energy levels and reduce their stress. Office perks such as these will also make your team feel appreciated and further encourage them to do their best work.
5. Give Positive Feedback And Reward Your Team
The power of positive praise is sometimes overlooked but recognizing and applauding achievement inspires team members as they can see themselves progressing towards the goals of the company. When employees achieve results, put in extra effort or do outstanding work make sure to tell them that you’re grateful and be specific in your praise. For example, don’t just say ‘good job’, explain why it was a good job and how it helped to benefit the business. This will not only motivate your employee but help them succeed with future work. Reward your team for hard work, whether this in the form of monetary rewards, gifts, perks or more responsibility and independence.
6. Provide Opportunities For Development
Team members feel more valuable when they are learning and enhancing their skills. To motivate and inspire your team to achieve great results you should provide your employees with opportunities for growth and development . These opportunities should be tailored specifically to suit the individual employee and can be in the form of further training, setting challenging targets, inviting an employee to shadow you or spending your own time teaching and mentoring somebody. Focus on teaching your team transferable skills they could use in different positions and encourage them to set themselves learning goals.
Motivation is an essential part of any workplace and you should be constantly striving to make your employees feel motivated and inspired. If you do this, you’re sure to achieve the results that you need.