Successful Employee Motivation - For The Long Term

Successful Employee Motivation - For The Long Term

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Successful employee motivation comes about when you engage and inspire your team. Put each of these principles into practice and your team will buzz!

1. Respect & Consideration For Others
2. Loyalty To People Who Are Absent
3. Visibility With On-going and Open Communication
4. Kept Promises
5. Agreed Norms/Guidelines
6. Unswerving Consistency in Behavior
7. Sense of Aligned Purpose
8. Ensure Competence

Respect & Consideration for Others:

Know about your team. What are their problems? What are they concerned about? What are their personal goals? Be there to support them when they need it. Show gratitude for their efforts. Be sensitive to the needs of others: when making decisions, whatever the circumstance, consider all parties

Loyalty To People Who Are Absent:

Do not allow yourself to be party to any conversations in which other people are complained about and talked about. Always act as if the other person/department was standing right there with you listening to every word that is said. Ask the person/(s) who is doing the complaining what action they are going to take to remedy the situation - generally this will either shut the conversation down in its tracks or move it to a solutions focus. If you are consistent at doing this it will reassure people that you do not embroil yourself in idle gossip or complaining sessions.

Visibility And On-going and Open Communication:

People are inspired to give of their best when they feel involved and trust the people around them. Studies have shown that trust is built by frequent (meaningful) contact. Regularly sharing your vision and asking for ideas on how it can be achieved opens the doors of motivation.

Alexander the Great is said to have won the commitment of his soldiers by risking his own life along side them. He plunged so often into the thickest of battle that his soldiers begged him to go to the rear.

As a Leader, you too at times must be prepared to enter the 'fray'.

"Closed doors" and withholding information can only lead to suspicion and a lack of motivation from your team.

Touch base as frequently as you can - daily/weekly, so that you are aware of the issues which are uppermost in the minds of your team members - they will come to believe that you truly understand their needs.

Kept Promises:

It takes just one broken promise to lose the trust of a team member. Build the bank of 'reliability' through keeping your word on all small agreements e.g. "I will get back to you Tuesday at 9.00" means exactly that. No broken promises or excuses. Your team needs to know that come what may your word is good - no matter how small the promise. Then when the time comes for you to be extended trust over a larger issue you will have built your 'trust bank balance' to such an extent that people are motivated to .

Agreed Norms/Guidelines:

Work with your team to set down a series of norms/guidelines that you will each follow. These guidelines, when applied, will ensure the consistency of behavior that leads to an environment of high-trust and therefore high-performance. Ensure that violation of these guidelines, by anyone, is never stepped over.

Unswerving Consistency:

Each and every one of us look for consistency in behavior from the people around us. As a Leader it is imperative that you are consistent and that you role-model the behaviors you would like see in others. All energy starts with you - you set the example.

Most people want their leader to be a positive role model ... consistently. If you are having a bad day, talk to somebody about, turn it in to a bad half-hour and get over it. Do not weigh down the people working with you - they have enough to deal with day-to-day without having to cope with inconsistent leadership. People don't care what their leaders say, they care about what they do.

Sense Of Aligned Purpose:

Your team develops their purpose in response to direction from the Leadership Team. As the Leader you are responsible for broadly framing the performance requirements of your business. Bob Waterman and Tom Peters call this "solution space; i.e. defining the boundaries and scope of authority clearly enough to indicate direction, but flexibly enough to allow the modification required for commitment to develop."

Goals become shared when all members have participated in a process that clarifies the team's collective purpose. Pride and responsibility are inspired when members believe that the goals they have set are both achievable and important. As individuals personally and collectively commit to their Purpose, everyone on the team feels responsible for achieving the Unit's Goals.

Ensure Competence:

Utilize systems so that both you and your team have the competency required for the roles in which you currently perform and for the future.

You have probably noticed that in in this article on successful employee motivation there is no mention of rewards. If you are taking these actions and you are paying people fairly then the need for artificially motivating people to turn up to work probably won't be a high priority.

About the Author:
At the leadership and motivation training site you will find another 10 articles on successful employee motivation



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