5 High
Performance Employee Motivation Techniques
These
employee motivation techniques are the key to boosting team and business
performance. Implementing these five techniques will deliver increased
performance and create a workplace that buzzes.
Provide
Meaningful and Challenging Work
When people
feel that the work they are doing is meaningful makes a difference in some way and
provides them with challenges that stretch them they become internally
motivated. In other words they don't need anyone standing around coercing them
into higher levels of performance.
Even the
most mundane of work can be motivating if the leader helps the team member put
into context the value their work brings either to the consumer or to the
organization.
A great
leader is able to help inspire and motivate people by getting them to see
beyond the immediacy of what they are doing to the bigger picture.
Providing
challenging work is also intrinsically motivating for people. The vast majority
of people want to feel that their potential is being regularly challenged. When
the team leader provides the team member with the environment that enables, for
example, learning new techniques or taking on additional tasks this can engage
them more fully.
Set
Clear Targets and Expectations and Measure Performance
Imagine you
were bowling and no-one told you the aim of the game and each time you bowled
the ball as it got half way down the alley a curtain came down so you couldn't
actually see how many pins you had knocked over. How long do you think you'd
remain interested, excited, engaged by the game? If you are like most people
not too long!
It's the
same in organizational life. People can be all fired up and ready to give of
their best, but if they don't know what is excellent performance or don't know
when they've performed excellently or don't know what the aim of the game is
... you can pretty well shut the gate on motivation. Spelling out specific
targets, goals, and expectations for behavior and performance need not be
anything complicated ... it just needs to be done and people need to get
regular and timely feedback on how they are performing against those goals.
Give Regular,
Direct, Supportive Feedback
Feedback, both positive and performance improving, is
vital to continuous improvement and done well it motivates and inspires people
to continually move toward using more of their potential.
Feedback
needs to be timely, specific and presented in such a way that the individual is
clear about what behaviors or skills they need to modify (or continue using) in
order to improve performance
Design
People's Roles So They Can Use Their Strengths
Assigning
people to specific tasks and duties that play to their strengths is one of the
best employee motivation techniques. Research has shown, more than anything,
people who are able to make use of their strengths on a regular basis while at
work are more likely to work in teams that perform at higher levels.
When people
are playing to their strengths on a regular basis - they feel effective,
focused and fulfilled, a win for them and for their organization. The person
becomes more internally motivated, feeling upbeat and enthused by what they are
doing and will feel inspired to continue more.
Enable
Input and Choice In How Work Gets Done
95% of
people want to do a good job, feel pride in what they do, have good
relationships with their co-workers and feel they are contributing in a
meaningful way. In other words, they are set up by their own internal nature to
be a high performer.
Unfortunately
in many organizations managers turn the majority of their focus toward the 5%
of people who are allergic to work and then instigate rules, policies and
practices (such as close supervision) to control this 5%. As you can imagine
all that does is demean, annoy and demotivate the 95% who are motivated to do
their best. You are wasting the talent and natural motivation that the overwhelming
majority of people bring to the workplace.
Provide
people with a forum where they can provide their input in to how work is
performed. Giving people control over how they perform the work is intensely
motivating.