What you need to know about Employee Motivation

A leadership role is multifaceted and highly challenging at times; nonetheless it can also be one of the most rewarding roles of your career. As a Leader you are accountable for creating an inspiring vision, forming collective values and managing change effectively. One part of this role also requires you to build and lead a team that is productive, agile, engaged and motivated.

Motivating employees for optimum performance and engagement is an important cog in the leadership wheel. When staff are motivated they are positive, productive and proactive. In my experience there is a direct correlation between leadership and motivation. Employees who are led by a Manager that invests genuine time and energy in identifying what makes them tick, providing ongoing development and recognising their efforts tend to be more motivated. Dr Bob Nelson, a leading expert on employee motivation summed it up perfectly when he stated “An employee’s motivation is a direct result of the sum of interaction with his/her manager.” For this reason, understanding the most important facet of motivation is an essential tool in any leadership role.

The fundamental attribute of employee motivation

Today’s workplace comprises of people that are from various different ethnic backgrounds, diverse socioeconomic levels and have distinctive and unique personalities. What’s more; organisations consist of a melting pot of various generations working together. Each generation bringing a different perspective and a different dynamic to the team. The needs of a Baby Boomers would more often than not be very different to that of a Gen Xers who in turn would be at a different point in their careers to that of a Millennial or a Gen Zers.

I describe motivation of any kind as internal or external stimuli that compels action. Employee motivation is then the application of a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli that compels action towards an organisational goal. However; this comes with a caveat, it must satisfy some individual need of each employee and in this lies the fundamental attribute of employee motivation. We cannot have a cookie cutter approach to motivating employees and one size does not fit all. Managers must have the skills to unearth and get to the heart of each employee’s unique needs in their arsenal of leadership tools.

There are several studies and training manuals that describe the tips and techniques required in motivating your employees. Many of these include such things as:

• Building trust
• Setting clear goals
• Providing regular and constructive feedback
• Being transparent
• Lead by example

All of the above are absolutely vital in nurturing motivation in employees, however in my opinion there is one skill that trumps all. It is the art of listening to your employees! Listen to your employees to understand their fears, concerns,hopes and aspirations. Get to know their needs and their motivators. The skill of listening to your employees will serve you well, you will discover many things about your employees and therefore be able to create a tailored approach to motivating each employee.

Getting to know your employee

A regular one on one catch ups with your employee is one of the best ways of getting to know who they are. There is a lot of power in these meetings and it must be high on the importance scale as any other meeting.

• Create and commit to reoccurring one on one meeting each month– We are so busy and we juggle multiple things at work. I can relate and sympathise with all who are time poor, preparation and allocating time in advance is paramount for carrying out regular one on one meetings.

• Remember it is about the employee – Create an environment of trust and open communication. Allow the employee to create an agenda and give them the opportunity to talk and vent, however keep it solution focused when addressing any issues.  Ask open ended questions, validate what you have heard and clarify any misunderstandings.

• Feedback – Provide constructive feedback in the meeting and also ask for feedback on how best you can support them.

• Small talk – Spend sometime in the joy of small talk, genuine interest in the other person and sharing a part of yourself is powerful for deepening relationships. It is also a great way of getting to know your employees on a non-superficial level.

Motivating your staff is never so important as it is during difficult, uncertain and volatile times. There are many paths that lead to motivation, however, the most important aspect of employee motivation is understanding what makes them tick. We are all so different and the driving force behind what I am motivated by might be completely different to that of yours.

How do you engender motivation with your teams and leaders?