Motivation in the workplace
An employee’s productivity can be directly linked to their motivation. Therefore, improving it has become a constant goal of Human Resources managers. In this article we will explain you the ideas about Motivation in the workplace to improve the employee performance.
“Why would you like to work at our company?”. This is a common question in selection processes in which the Human Resources department, responsible for recruitment, seeks to find enthusiastic professionals hoping to improve motivation at work. But, what if you miss?
A survey developed by the company Robert Half indicates that 40% of professionals feel discouraged.
As a result, they spend the day trying to get away from their tasks and with their minds off, there on the weekend.
Several factors can contribute to the lack of motivation . Among them are the lack of a career plan, which leaves the worker with no prospects for the future, the organizational climate , the work accidents with sick leave, and unpaid leave for personal matters. In the latter case, the firm may cut the employee’s salary and the exercise of a less challenging role.
Whatever the reason for the lack of motivation, in order to reverse it, HR and the leadership of a company need to know the 9 ideas that we have separated to improve motivation at work. Check out the ideas about Motivation in the workplace to improve the employee performance
1. Choose and prepare your managers well
When it comes to motivation at work, before we turn the focus to teams and their members, we need to take a step or two back.
The why is the same behind the reflection that “ employees don’t leave bad company. They leave bad bosses .”
In an ideal scenario, the company’s hiring policy should carefully evaluate candidates to find those who match the organizational culture .
This makes it easier to keep employees engaged and also to develop leaders who are aligned and able to lead their teams to the goals pursued by the company.
Conscious choice and leadership training are also important. Thus, the idea of taking a step back is not necessarily to seek a new manager, but rather to prepare the one who already works in the organization.
To understand the importance of this preparation, consider the fact that 70% of managers struggle to provide negative feedback.
Something that contributes to making the task of directing the team even more challenging and knowing how to improve motivation at work even in the face of initially bad results.
2. Know your team
A prepared manager can even consider the factors that we presented in the introduction of this article as some of the main responsible for the lack of motivation at work.
To resolve the situation in your company, however, your duty is to avoid generic analyzes and seek to know your team and their pain.
Only then will you be able to understand what stimuli or resources it needs.
There must be observational work, considering both the team as a whole and its members individually.
More than that, it is important that the manager makes room for direct communication and even invites employees for a conversation .
For this dialogue to be productive, it is necessary to create a climate of trust and respect, conducive to the employee feeling comfortable to share their opinions and open up about their difficulties and expectations.
The process of getting to know the team better also helps the manager to understand which approaches to look for in the mission of improving motivation at work.
So, even if it is hard work, it is worth investing in the strategies presented to achieve success.
3. Improve internal communication
A parallel action that the manager can orchestrate together with different sectors and company leaders is the improvement of internal communication .
The idea is to invest or improve corporate content dissemination actions aimed at employees.
The existence of a newspaper or internal newsletter, for example, is a strategy that helps to bring the employee closer to reality, the local culture and aspects considered important for the company.
The information opens space for the worker to get to know, identify himself and feel more motivated to get involved with the organization’s issues .
In turn, holding social events favors the improvement of internal communication in another way: providing contact and socialization among employees.
Something that has the consequence of creating a more human environment, favoring the organizational climate and improving motivation at work.
All of this even makes it easier for managers to maintain a more open relationship with their team.
Do you remember that, in the second tip, we talked about the importance of knowing employees?
All this engagement helps them to better understand their role and possibilities within the company and to be able to communicate more clearly their pains and needs.
4. Give employees what they need
Certainly, the role of leadership is not to seek conditions to give workers everything they want or say they need.
However, once the analysis of the situation is made indicating the reasons for the lack of motivation at work, it is necessary to act.
If the manager identifies, for example, that the absence of a career plan is among the factors that demotivate his team, he can promote changes to implement one.
From this, employees will be able to understand the prospects for their career within the company and what goals they need to achieve to achieve new positions, functions and remuneration.
Also, if workers need training to better perform their functions, need to rely on new technologies or simply receive more feedback to guide their actions, give it to them!
All these are examples of measures that are not mere whims, but changes in favor of motivation and, consequently, better results for the company.
5. Make and share plans, keeping your feet on the ground
All of these steps—goal setting, career path implementation, and more—need to be well-planned.
This is because, to improve motivation at work, it is not enough to communicate what changes will be made, it is necessary to make them work continuously and in the best possible way.
It is useless for the company to create a plan for the career of its employees if, over time, it does not adopt measures to make it work .
Nor does it generate good results to adopt new technologies without preparing a transition process with adequate training so that the routine flows well and keeps employees motivated.
Therefore, actions must be planned in the short, medium and long term. Therefore, it is important to keep your feet on the ground so that the strategies to be adopted are consistent with the reality of the company and its staff.
Creating goals that are incompatible with the possibilities of employees and the organization itself can have the opposite effect of what is sought, increasing apathy and lack of involvement with work.
6. Be clear about the role of each employee in the team
A motivational speech involves making clear to each employee their role and importance in the team.
Words and, above all, actions of the manager that indicate their trust in the worker can be of great help to improve motivation at work.
This only works, however, when each professional is used in the best way according to their own abilities.
From dialogue with employees to planning and implementing strategies and changes, it is up to the manager to make sure that each member of his team is assigned roles that favor his talent and personal goals.
It is not just for career promotions that job changes that promote motivation are made .
The readjustment of the functions performed by a worker may be enough for him to identify more with his job, to feel more useful and able to pursue collective and individual goals.
7. Stay close and lead by example
Our first tip was about the selection and training of leaders for the company.
The concern with the quality of management must be constant because the figure of the leader is essential to improve motivation at work for the entire team.
Even managers can feel unmotivated and that’s part of the challenge. Proximity to the team favors an exchange relationship in which the leader is inspired by the situations of the team itself to seek and help to promote motivation.
In the same way that we suggest internal communication as a way to bring the worker closer to the company’s culture and objectives, the proximity between manager and team also creates a favorable climate for engagement and the pursuit of goals.
This is because, even in a professional environment, the quality of the relationships created makes the difference .
In addition, it is always good to remember that good leadership, more than a motivational speech, depends on actions.
In the midst of problems and difficulties, the leader must be present to “roll up their sleeves” and participate in the development of solutions to inspire others to do the same and not be discouraged in the face of mistakes or obstacles.
8. Give positive feedback and celebrate victories
Have you ever wondered about the importance of positive feedback ? The quality of life in the work environment is an increasingly determining factor for the satisfaction and motivation of workers.
Contrary to what it may seem, a flawless scenario is not necessary to achieve this result and, sometimes, creating a more human and positive environment makes all the difference.
Feedback is a well-known tool to improve motivation at work that doesn’t need to be used only when something goes wrong and needs to be fixed.
Compliments help to boost workers’ morale and make them happy.
More than that, a simple feedback on the performed task allows employees to realize that they are being observed and that their work is important to the company.
Positive feedback can be given individually and collectively. The idea is not to exalt an employee before others, but to recognize the good work to inspire everyone to follow the same path.
Also, collective achievements such as goals reached by the team should be celebrated. After all, accomplishments like these are the result of a lot of dedication and, again, recognition should be seen as an investment in favor of motivation at work.
9. Pay attention to signals and metrics
The mission of promoting the motivation of a team has no end. Stimulating work environments present new goals and challenges for your professionals and teams, and keeping everyone motivated is critical to success.
Therefore, the idea is that HR and the manager make the tips presented here something pertaining to their routines.
That’s because, over time, slight changes in behavior can indicate that a motivation strategy no longer works as well and needs to be replaced or enhanced.
Other issues, such as productivity indicators , can help the manager assess the performance of the team performing tasks.
Information that also helps you understand if there is a problem, such as a lack of motivation, that needs to be corrected for better results.
We hope that you have understood the Motivation in the workplace to improve the employee performance .