Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2010. The remark that workers these days do not leave their jobs because finding another one is not easy reflects the Spanish job market in 2010.
I agree with psychologists that money isn’t the most important thing when it comes to keeping an employee motivated. Someone who is unhappy in their job won’t perform better because of a pay rise if they don’t like what they do. That said, to be realistic, financial reward matters a great deal, along with other details, when it comes to keeping a motivated workforce.
To know how to motivate an employee, first and foremost we need to understand what demotivates them.
What demotivates employees
Monotony: Monotony is the root of all demotivation. It can break up a couple, sour our free time and, certainly, push us into a depressive state at work. If someone gets up at the same time every day, goes into work and spends 8–10 hours doing the same thing, day after day, that person will very likely lose motivation and may even think about quitting. These days, workers don’t leave their jobs because finding another one isn’t easy. That doesn’t mean they’re happy in their position, let alone motivated.
Fear: Fear of being fired, fear of being snapped at by the boss, fear of being replaced by someone better qualified. In the past, fear kept workers motivated; today it is one of the main causes of sick leave for depression.
Lack of gratitude: We all like to feel useful and to be thanked now and then for what we do. Many managers think there’s nothing to thank anyone for, since the employee should be grateful enough for having been given a job. In that case, it’s the manager or leader who ought to be looking for work.
Salary: An employee may be grateful for the job, feel valued by the boss and enjoy the work, but if the job leaves them struggling to make ends meet, knowing that other companies pay more for the same position, they’ll feel as if they’re working for a charity. So if any of the other factors above also comes into play, they might think about changing companies.
Pay differences: Imagine three employees who do exactly the same job and work the same hours. How would they react on finding out that one of them earns more than the other two, with no reasonable explanation? They’d probably feel less valued for that reason alone, and they might even come to resent the colleague who earns more.
These are some of the factors that demotivate a company’s employees.
Ways to motivate your employees
A good approach, without doubt, is what large corporations do: offering employees shares in the company. It’s the best way to involve employees and make them feel part of a company, of a project with a future, because the more the company’s value rises, the more those shares will be worth, and so the more committed they’ll be.
Targets: Targets aren’t just for salespeople. A secretary would feel more valued receiving part of the commission on the company’s sales, and would give customers better service, since future sales also depend on how they’re looked after.
Equal base pay: Not everyone has to earn the same, but everyone should start from the same base salary. The rest they’ll earn by meeting targets and/or making sales. That way, when an employee asks you “why does Joe earn more than me?”, you simply tell them: do what Joe does and you’ll earn the same. This drives greater effort and motivation, because it wounds people’s pride if they don’t meet their targets. It’s certainly the best way to tell the competent from the incompetent.
Divide the company: We don’t mean actually splitting it up, but making the different departments operate as independent companies of a sort. Manufacturing sells to the sales department, and the profitability of each section is analysed separately. Just make sure you explain to everyone that they must never forget they belong to the same company. Companies that introduced this measure were quickly able to spot which departments were unproductive, and encouraged others to analyse their costs to become more profitable, which led to positive motivation among their employees.
Chances of promotion: Every employee should have a real chance of being promoted and moving up in the company on their own merits. Not only will this improve motivation, but as employees push upwards, the company will inevitably tend to grow.
Training: Try to make sure your employees learn something new every week; give them new tasks and break the monotony. Find ways for them not to do exactly the same thing every day as the day before. Give them new challenges and train them to be more professional. That way, one day they may be the ones giving you ideas for expanding the business into other areas. An intelligent, well-trained employee isn’t a threat to your company; they’re worth two.
Not to mention the importance of creating a good atmosphere in the company and, as far as possible, not snapping at people or reprimanding them in public, although that’s less business advice than basic good manners.
Try to build a family within your company, with everyone working towards the same goal.
Further reading
- Common mistakes leaders make
- How to run your company well
- How to manage a business in a crisis
- What the Mafia teaches us about business
- Mistakes Hispanic businesspeople make
Featured image: Phil Whitehouse, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
