WAYS TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES INTO AN UNSTOPPABLE TEAM/ REASONS WHY EMPLOYEES FEEL DE-MOTIVATED.

Motivating employees and helping them do the best job possible takes time and experience. But as a business Manager or owner, there is nothing more rewarding than helping other people -- as well as yourself -- work to their fullest potential. The keys to being a good motivator are: clear communication, training and always show appreciation, engage, empower. If you use the following tactics, you will become a better leader.

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT

Communicate Effectively (Leave aside autocracy and old management tactics).Make sure that your employees know exactly what you expect of them. Describe the job and your expectations before hiring, and then reiterate these expectations on a regular basis. With a new employee, this may be a daily necessity. Later, it can be done less often but make sure you talk to your people. Never be vague or generalize. Always be direct. Employees want to know exactly what you expect of them.

TRAIN.

Take the time to train your employees in your methods and way of doing business. Create a training process that is replicable. It may be time consuming at first, but it will pay off. And be flexible. No matter how long you think it will take to train someone, it often takes longer, even with experienced employees, it is highly important to perform refreshments and or consistent delivery of updates and changes, there’s no worst cancer than an employee that does perform a good job because of the lack of knowledge and or attention given.

ASSUME PEOPLE WANT TO DO A GOOD JOB.

Nobody on your team is making mistakes because they think it's fun, want to spite you or make the company lose money. I've seen entrepreneurs become livid over an employee’s simple mistake, as if the employee did something wrong on purpose. Don't take an employee's mistakes personally, do not punish in public, instead take the time to analyze the root cause of the event, see how to prevent it, set expectations, provide the necessary tools and provide the necessary attention.

SHOW EMPLOYEES YOU APPRECIATE THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS.

Employees should feel that what they're doing is important to you and makes a difference to the company. This means everyone, including the person at the front desk, needs to know that the way he or she deals with people on the telephone, by email or when they visit the office is vital to establishing a courteous and professional image for the company. (Everyone counts).

CREATE AN EFFICIENT, ATTRACTIVE AND COMFORTABLE WORKPLACE.

Consider your employees’ health, time and happiness when buying furnishings and equipment. Don't skimp on what will make someone's job easier, whether it’s about replacing a copier machine or a computer. Don’t forget their comfort. No one wants to work in a cold or stifling office. Make sure the heating and air conditioning work properly.

Create an attractive workplace that gives employees a sense of pride. I’ve found that painting office walls bright colors, instead of boring gray or beige, increases energy levels. Buying attractive furniture, color the environment, gives employees a sense of pride. They tend to keep their workplaces neater and thus find it easier to be productive.

 BANISH FEAR.

Encourage employees to ask questions and make suggestions. Listen to their ideas. Implement the ones that make sense, improve productivity, increase sales or add to a general sense of well-being in the work environment. Make sure they feel comfortable telling you early on whether they are having problems getting the job done. You want to have as much time as possible to work with them to find solutions.

LEAD BY THE GOLDEN RULE.

If in doubt about how to treat an employee, ask yourself, "Is this the way I would like to be treated?" Create the kind of workplace where you would like to work. Sometimes that’s difficult to do in today’s fast-paced, constantly changing environment. When the going gets rough, take a deep breath and a minute to reflect. Put yourself in your employee’s shoes. Think about the bigger, long-term picture. Treating your employees well is always the best option.

SHARE THE EXCITEMENT.

Let employees know when things are going well. Don't keep them in the dark when there are problems. There's no reason to notify them about every glitch or setback, but you can tell them when cash flow is tight and you need their help keeping expenses down. Celebrate each meaningful success, even the small ones, with something as simple as ordering a couple of pizzas (or whatever your team likes to eat). Praise an employee publicly, so that everyone knows that you mean it.Sharing the excitement goes a long way to keeping employees engaged and happy.

BAD MANAGEMENT-NO MOTIVATION.

Let's see the other side of the coin. Here’s a look at some of the chief triggers for employee de-motivation:

NO RECOGNITION OR FEELING OFF VALUE.

When employees are not recognized or given credit for a job very well done or immense efforts they have put in towards a project, they become demotivated. They lose interest and may not even want to try thinking innovatively, get some extra work done or even just perform their role with feelings of obligation and energy because their boss doesn’t seem to care or notice their hard work and dedication, through my experience in the call center industry I’ve seen great leaders and bosses with poor judgement but there’s common phrases used by poor leaders that tend to crush a team’s morale:

- I do not have the time to talk to them, “employees”.

- I do not have to praise them, that’s what they get pay for.

- I do not have to do more; they should feel good they still have a job.

- Punishing in public during meetings or while working.

- Participating in meetings and always saying we’re trying this already or no we can’t do this (100% of ideas disqualification), without giving a valid reason for revocation.

UNREALISTIC DEMANDS OR WORK LOAD

With the idea of getting a lot of work done and fast, ambitious bosses may place heavy and unrealistic workloads upon the shoulders of their employees. Though holding staff to high standards is not really a bad thing, it does become bad when managers cross the line by being too demanding or overburdening with them. Asking employees to carry out the truly impossible, or insisting that they complete projects over the weekends even when they’re not time-sensitive would invite low morale and decreased productivity from them.

MICROMANAGEMENT.

Micromanagement may be defined as a management style characterized by the manager closely (excessively) observing and supervising the work of his employees or subordinates. The manager may not mean any harm by his micromanagement however it can be irritating and bothersome to his employees. The reason is that it tells them he doesn’t trust their judgement and thereby contributes to a loss of motivation. The employees disengaged by the micromanagement may leave for the sake of more freedom or, if the manager is lucky, continue to stay but just muddle through.

Have you seen upper-management individuals disqualifying employees because of the shape of a presentation and not focusing on the content and what is exposed during the meeting?

JOB INSECURITY

As per a survey by Human Resource Services Inc, job security is the most important factor for employee motivation. So this means, insecurity in the job place can wreak havoc when it comes to employee retention. If an employee is at an expendable job or working in an unstable company, he may just put in the necessary effort to keep getting his salary. The rest of his energy will be spent on updating his resume, gossiping with co-workers, looking for a more stable job elsewhere and planning his jump.

NO PROGRESS.

The majority of employees feel happy when there is continuing learning potential in their company and they have a feeling of growing in their knowledge and skills. Even progress in the form of small workplace accomplishments are triggers for motivation. If on the other hand, employees feel uninspired and stagnant, their enthusiasm and engagement will drop. In addition, if an employee is trying to introduce a new idea or change and it has to pass through lots of red tape, he’s going to lose all the fervor and drive he began with.

CONFLICTING OR OTHERWISE UNPLEASANT CO-WORKERS.

Research from Gallup reveals that close friendships at work cause a 50 percent increase in employee satisfaction while having a close friend at work increased the likelihood of engagement in work by seven times. So, one can just imagine what would be the outcome of having bullying, intimidating or otherwise unpleasant or conflicting co-workers. Even if the job is well-paying and offers opportunities for career growth, if there are back-stabbers, the result would be misery and stress.

“Customers don’t come first, employees do, take care of your employees so they take care of your customers”.

-Richard Branson-