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Thought Leadership in Action

Category: HR Health & Wellness

3 Ways to Improve Employee Motivation

We tend to think of employee motivation in terms of incentives — usually money. While you should certainly offer competitive pay and benefits, other rewards can also increase motivation. A 2018 survey from Genesis Associates found that 40% of employees were motivated by cash incentives, followed by a free vacation or other travel incentives at 29 percent, and additional time off at 23%.

Money alone doesn’t drive loyalty or the desire to work harder for your company, suggests Matt Granados, CEO at Life Pulse, Inc and author of Motivate the Unmotivated. “Take a step back and start listening to what people want,” he says.

There's more to motivating employees than throwing money at the problem. Here's how to incentivize performance and engagement at your organization.

Manage Stress and Anxiety

A long-term instability, like the current COVID-19 crisis, floods employees with anxiety. They can't be sure of their next paycheck, their health, or their children’s' education. Motivation can't be improved when high levels of stress are clouding focus and impeding productivity. The onus is on the employer to communicate regular updates regarding job status and maintain trust between employees and leadership.

"They need to know that you're looking out for their needs as well as your own," says Paul White, work psychologist and president of Appreciation at Work. Employees need to feel like you're doing whatever is possible to maintain stability and support their best interests. "If that trust isn't there, no matter what else you do to try to motivate people — it's not going to work.”

Additional benefits like mental health counseling or child care can help cut through the fog of anxiety. These are tangible demonstrations that you're watching out for your employees' needs, and simple actions can provide a strong foundation for increased motivation.

Customize Incentives to the Individual

What motivates each of us is different, and we need to tap into those differences to produce the best outcomes for engagement. "Perspective-taking ability is being able to see situations from other people's point of view," White says. "Work at understanding your employees on a personal level rather than grouping everybody together." Some people are motivated by acts as simple as frequent check-ins or an encouraging word.

Employee surveys are a great way to understand the big-picture motivators, but you have to act on that information and analyze it. Pilot a personalized incentives program at a team level. "The biggest mistakes employers make are not listening and not giving employees the proper structure to find out what motivates them," Granados says. He suggests starting with three specific questions:

  • What are you focused on?
  • What are you grateful for?
  • What are you working towards this week?

Finding trends in your team members' responses to these questions can help you pinpoint their specific motivators. For example, family may come up a lot. One particular team member might be motivated by additional paid time off to spend with their kids or have an experience with the whole family, like a paid membership to the local zoo.

Imbue Work With a Sense of Purpose

One of the biggest motivators for many employees is working toward something outside of their direct interests. "People are not just concerned about themselves," White says. "They want to do things that are meaningful and have purpose." Help team members find that sense of purpose. You can do this by connecting specific project outcomes with the organization's overall mission and purpose, facilitating volunteer events, or even offering PTO for volunteering.

Connecting each action to a more significant outcome helps employees understand their role in the organization overall. "Unmotivated individuals have a disconnect between their actions and outcomes," Granados says. "You need to bring value to their actions."

Individual team members are often embedded in the nitty-gritty aspects of a project. Let them step back once in a while to see their personal contribution's overall results or effects. This pause helps imbue their work with a greater sense of purpose.

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