Motivation is subjective and not everyone responds the same way. What may motivate you may turn someone else off. Investing in your employees can be challenging in and of itself, but it is worth it in the long run and with the success of your business. Many employers have a mentality that is very short-sighted when it comes to their staff. Many see their employees as merely a warm body to fill a position or just another cog. Having this type of view is not only corrosive to the morale of the employees, but it almost guarantees that your turnover will never be low and you’ll always be trying to fill the same position over and over again. You will always be wasting money repeating the same mistake without realizing it, in most cases. While some job positions do not require a lot of knowledge to perform, the sheer volume that is performed can at times be overwhelming.
Appreciating that your employees perform a necessary task that in most cases you do not want to do yourself, should garner a certain amount of respect for your employees, not antipathy towards them. Yes, everyone is expendable but are your customers, too? When your staff is not happy or excited to be working for you, it shows in how they treat not only your business, but your customers as well. I’m sure that we all have experience that disgruntled employee that is only there to collect a paycheck as I am also sure that we have had that experience with that diamond of an employee. Have you ever considered asking each one why they are demonstrating the visible characteristics that they are?
In our society, we have spent so much time getting away from each other through the use of technology than just talking to each other. This is and will continue to be a problem well into the future if we don’t address this now. Jobs will continue to disappear because these same employers would rather embrace a machine that doesn’t speak and just does the job that you require from it than to spend time trying to understand why your employees don’t last very long. While there will be those employees that are just there for a paycheck, you will have others that genuinely love what they do but feel unappreciated for many reasons.
How to keep your employees happy?
Pay them above what is commensurate in the industry. If they are there with you, they will stay with you knowing that you care more about them than the competition. This includes any perks, like vacation time and sick time. It’s really worth it!- Recognize their performance. Let them know that you appreciate their hard work. Many employees already feel unappreciated.
- Talk to your employees! Yes, that means get to know them and what’s going on in their lives without being nosy.
- Encourage feedback. Make sure that they know that they can always come to you to discuss things that are concerning them about their job. Try to stay away from the personal subjects. They can cross an ethical line and cause legal trouble for you and your business.
- Promote your employees. If you have a position that you can move them to, then by all means, do it.
Don’t increase their workload just because you know that they will make every effort to complete it. Many employers think by adding additional responsibilities is considered a promotion. It’s not! It’s merely consolidating 2 positions into one and is sure to burn that employee out.- Trust your employee! This is one of the hardest things for anyone to do but if there is no trust, you will always be casting doubts upon your employees. While trust is earned, you should fashion tests to allow them to demonstrate that they deserve your trust without them knowing that you’re testing them.
Empower your employees. Give them the tools to be as successful as you want them to be! Keep in mind that everyone is not the same nor do they have the same strengths and weaknesses. This can be a great opportunity to teach them something new about the company.- Ask them what you can do for them to make them even more successful. Some suggestions may seem outlandish to you, but it can have an incredible impact on your employee and business.
Do you think I’m missing something? Let’s open up a dialogue between business-minded individuals and help each other to build a better human workforce! Want to discuss this in person? I’m available at Goldwiser, 24910 Kuykendahl Rd., Tomball, TX 77375 and I’m here Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm. Let’s chat!
Gina Olson 