Having trouble getting workers fired up about a project or your company in
general? We've compiled some pointers from the experts.
Any CEO knows that employee motivation is a key to individual performance,
group productivity, and maintaining a pleasant office culture. So how do you do
it exactly? For a dose of inspiration on how to motivate those who work for
you, we've compiled the best recent pointers on the subject from articles
published in Inc. magazine and on Inc.com.
1. Set a Good Example.
Remember that your attitude is contagious. Kevin Plank, founder of Under
Armour, an apparel company located in Baltimore, says that communication is key
to making members of your company's team feel including in major decisions. "I
listened to everyone's opinions, and, without fail, they'd bring up things I
hadn't thought of. More important, my team members knew that they were part of
the process and that their voices mattered," he told Inc. "Employees are more
motivated when they feel needed, appreciated, and valued." Plank also
recommends hiring employees who have great leadership skills. At his company,
he calls these natural leaders "engines," and peppers them strategically around
the organization. Read more.
2. Focus on Employee Happiness Rather Than Employee Motivation.
Zappos is often hailed as the most employee-friendly business out there. But,
perks aside, what really keeps the workers there motivated? When Inc.'s Max
Chafkin last interviewed Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh in Las Vegas, he discovered that
what Hsieh really cares about is making Zappos's employees and customers feel
really, really good. In fact, he's decided that his entire business revolves
around happiness. Chafkin writes: "Zappos's approach to workplace bliss differs
significantly from that of other employee-friendly businesses. For one thing,
Zappos pays salaries that are often below market rates - the average hourly
worker makes just over $23,000 a year. Though the company covers 100 percent of
health care costs, employees are not offered perks found at many companies,
such as on-site child care, tuition reimbursement, and a 401(k) match. Zappos
does offer free food to its employees, but the pile of cold cuts in the small
cafeteria loses its allure faster than you can say Googleplex. Instead of
buying his employees' loyalty, Hsieh has managed to design a corporate culture
that challenges our conception of that tired phrase." Read more.
3. Make Sure Employees Share in the Company's Success.
Employee performance, productivity, and motivation can all be tied to how
invested a worker feels in his or her company. That's what makes profit sharing
such a powerful tool especially when the company is consistently successful.
Sue Holloway, an expert in compensation at WorldatWork, a human resources
organization focused on employee benefits, told Inc.com that the objective of a
profit sharing plan "is to foster employee identification with the
organization's success." By implementing such a program, the CEO is saying,
"We're all in this together, and everybody's focused on profit," Holloway says.
Read more.
4. Create a Culture of Autonomy and Agency.
In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel
H. Pink writes that the crash of Wall Street is a striking example of the peril
of motivating employees strictly with gobs of cash. He advises that instead,
companies should create conditions for employees to find the joy in work
itself. That can mean giving workers the autonomy to choose what they do and
with whom, which can help foster a desire for mastery of tasks and skill sets
and simply doing more, better. Read more.
5. Encourage Worker to Voice Complaints.
When Dell amassed an online "antifan club," excoriating the PC maker across the
blogosphere, it not only acknowledged criticism, but also actually fixed
things, according to Jeff Jarvis's book What Would Google Do. "Dell transformed
itself from worst to first in the era of customer control," writes Jarvis. How
about applying the same principle apply to employees? There are scores of
reasons why employees don't contribute critique of management or their
company's culture from fear of retaliation to hesitation to appear
ungrateful. But remember, as Inc.'s Leigh Buchanan writes, "When the heat's not
lowered, though, steam escapes." Read more.
6. Take on Fun Volunteer Assignments.
In the heat of the recession, Door Number 3, an Austin-based advertising
agency, saw business slow. Thus, creative employees were occasionally idle on
the job. M.P. Mueller, the company's president, decided to ramp up the agency's
pro bono efforts an established way to build work portfolios and maintain
track records. It also had the side-effect of keeping employees sharp and
motivated between projects. Mueller said these projects not only help
charities, which also struggle during hard times, but also help employees
create some of their most inspired work. "You get a lot more freedom with
nonprofit clients," she says. Read more.
7. Get in Touch With Your Inner Start-up.
Every morning in the Chicago offices of Total Attorneys, a legal software and
service firm, small groups of the company's 180 employees gather in clusters
around the office. Laughter, banter, and collaboration ensue. For about 15
minutes, the office might be said to resemble a college cafeteria but to CEO
Ed Scanlan it's a perfect example of what he calls controlled chaos. That's a
process inspired by a process for designing software called "agile
development," which aims to foster flexibility, speed and teamwork in other
words, make an established company work more like a start-up. Read more.
http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/04/tips-for-motivating-employees.html