Employee Motivation is not about carrots and sticks

Motivating employees looks as if it should be easy. And it actually is. But while the concept of motivation could even be straightforward, motivating employees in real-life situations is much tougher. As leaders, we’re asked to understand what motivates each individual on our team and manage them accordingly. What a challenging ask of leaders, particularly those with large or dispersed teams and people who are already overwhelmed by their own workloads.

Leaders also are encouraged to depend on the carrot versus stick approach for motivation, where the carrot could even be a present for compliance, so the stick is additionally a consequence for noncompliance. But when our sole task as leaders becomes compliance, trying to compel others to undertake and do something, the likelihood is that we’re the sole real ones who are motivated.

Why not consider during a special due to motivating employees? I’d wish to suggest a greenhorn dialogue that embraces the key concept that motivation is also a smaller amount about employees doing great work and more about employees feeling great about their work. The better employees feel about their work, the more motivated they will be over time. Once we step far from the standard carrot or follow motivate employees, we'll engage during a novel and meaningful dialogue about the work instead. Here’s how:

Share context and supply relevance. There's not any stronger motivation for workers than an understanding that their work matters and has relevance to someone or something aside from an idea. To motivate your employees, start by sharing context about the work you’re asking them to try. What are we doing as an organization and as a team? Why are we doing it? Who benefits from our work and how? What does success appear as if for our team and for every employee? What role does each employee play in delivering thereon promise? Employees are motivated when their work has relevance.

Anticipate roadblocks to enable progress. Once you ask about anything significant of team members, they'll undoubtedly encounter roadblocks and challenges along the trail to success. Recognize that challenges can materially impact motivation. Be proactive in identifying and addressing them. What might make an employee’s work difficult or cumbersome? What are you able to do to ease the burden? What roadblocks might surface? How are you able to knock them down? How are you able to remain engaged only enough to work out trouble coming and pave the way for success? Employees are motivated after they're going to make progress without unnecessary interruption and undue burdens.

Recognize contributions and show appreciation. As tempting because it's to undertake to influence employee satisfaction with the use of carrots and sticks, it isn’t necessary for sustained motivation. More powerful is your commitment to recognizing and acknowledging contributions, so employees feel appreciated and valued. Leaders consistently underestimate the facility of acknowledgment to evoke employees’ best efforts. What milestones are achieved? What unexpected or exceptional results are realized? Who has gone beyond the selection of duty to assist a colleague or meet a deadline? Who has provided great service or support to a customer in crisis? “walked the talk” of your values in a way that sets an example for others and warrants recognition? Employees are motivated after they feel appreciated and recognized for his or her contributions.

Check in to assess your own motivation. What if you’ve done all the above but are still struggling to motivate others? You must assess your own motivation. Employees are very attuned on if leaders have a real connection to the work. If you’re not engaged and passionate about your company, your team, or the work you're doing, it’s unlikely that you’ll be an excellent motivator of others. What aspects of your role does one enjoy? What causes you to proud to guide your team? What impact are you able to and your team wears others both inside and outdoors the organization? How are you able to adapt your role to extend your energy and enthusiasm? Employees feel motivated when their leaders are motivated.

The moral of the story is: Don’t rely upon outdated methods and tricks to motivate employees. Talk together with your team about the relevance of the work they're doing on a daily. Be proactive in identifying and solving problems for your employees. Recognize employee contributions in specific, meaningful ways on a routine. Use helpful tools like Peero. Connect together with your own motivation, and share it freely together with your team. Put away the carrots and sticks and have meaningful conversations instead. You’ll achieve this because of leading a highly motivated team.