Motivating employees can be hard. With so many theories, ideologies and processes, it can often seem quite a complicated task. But forget about Maslow’s Hierarchy and any weird Freudian ideas, we’ve got 3 simple ways that you can transform your workplace into a haven of productivity.
1) Humanise
Having a ‘human workplace’ can change the way your employees view their work. It shouldn’t be a robotic movement of tasks and agendas – your team is a made up of human beings, each with unique strengths, weaknesses and experiences. No one employee is the same. That’s why it’s important to keep your workplace as human as possible.
People come to work and want to make a change – full of passion, creativity and knowledge. A combination as strong as that should always be cultivated – it’s what can make a real difference. However many workplaces can crush this passion and creativity with the 6 words no one ever wants to hear – ‘we’ve always done it this way’. Allow your employees some room to move and develop your business with their specialities in mind.
Being human also means stepping away from your phone and computer for a while. If you need to speak to someone across the office don’t even THINK about instant messaging them or emailing them. Face-to-face meetings can make a real difference to interpersonal relationships in the office. It’s also important for senior management to regularly meet with employees. It should be a two-way discussion in order to improve the business.
"The most dangerous phrase in the language is "we've always done it this way."#leadership #quotes pic.twitter.com/eABkiaKlFE
— 🟣 Bobby Umar | Keynote Speaker (@raehanbobby) May 4, 2016
2) Balance
It’s important to keep a balance at work – not only to keep employees sane but to boost productivity and happiness when employees are at work. Keeping a reasonable balance will mean employees are less susceptible to burning out at work – the feeling of being overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands of a workplace. Employees should be able to leave their work at work – it should never merge too much into their personal time. If it does, changes need to be made in order to allow each employee to have significant time away from their role.
Keeping a healthy work-life balance has even been proven to improve your health and wellbeing. Taking time out for yourself can limit health problems and let you lead a more productive lifestyle in general.
3) Purpose & potential
Sharing the ‘bigger picture’ with employees will lead to higher motivation and productivity. Employees should never feel like they are just doing a job simply for the pay check at the end of the month. From the outset, employees should know the bigger picture that they are working towards, and they should actively see the difference they are making within the company. Doing this will let them know their value within a company – whether their role is an intern or a senior manager. Everybody makes a difference!
As mentioned earlier, every single employee has a set of unique skills and passions which makes them take on each role from a unique perspective. Make sure you recognise each employee as an individual, and reward both the individual and the whole team when necessary.
Main image credit: Shutterstock
