Guidelines to a Good Employee Motivation Program
With a good employee motivation program in place, you can expect to gain improved productivity in the workplace, higher retention rates, and the reputation of being a good employer, which will make you attractive to new talent.
In order to develop an employee motivation program that works, you need to know the needs of your workforce. Remember the basic rule in effective selling? Know your customers and their needs. This is true even with your employees. If you want to keep them satisfied, you need to identify first what they need so you can meet them.
When developing an employee motivation program, consider some of the common needs of employees that directly affect motivation:
Fair compensation: While money itself is not the main motivating factor for many employees, it is important for any worker to get a fair pay that matches their capabilities, experience and skills. Otherwise, you will only undermine the confidence of your staff and drive them to leave.
Job security: Many employees would rather choose a secure job with average pay than a high-paying job that may fold the next month. Make sure to let your employees know that they are working for a stable company. But do not raise false hopes if there really is a problem that threatens their jobs.
Challenges: Most people love a good challenge because it gives a sense of achievement so make sure to consider this in your employee motivation program. Give them new duties or assign them new projects so you can keep their creativity flowing and their skills up to date.
Career growth: While not everyone wants the responsibility of being a supervisor or manager, it is important to provide a path for career growth within the organization. This benefits not only those who are career-oriented but it also increases the sense of security of other employees when they know that there are opportunities available to them should they decide to seek advancement.
Some of the techniques that you can use in your employee motivation program are creating measurements of success like production quotas or quality scores that gives employees a clear goal; offering output-oriented incentives directly related to project goals like bonuses for employees who can exceed quotas; giving salary increases to employees who pass certification exams; and organizing awards programs to recognize employees' excellent performance.
If you only have a small business and you cannot afford too many financial incentives like company cars or regular wage increases, do not worry. As stated above, employee motivation is not always about material things. Sometimes, simple ways like being more generous (but sincere) with compliments goes a long way. Having a good employee motivation program is about showing your employees that you value them and the work that they do and that you are willing to help your employees achieve their full potential.
