Motivating your employees can be one of the biggest input you can provide in your company to increase productivity. It is a well known fact that the work force that is motivated and driven is more productive than those who go around doing their jobs in a routine manner. Every day people are exposed to various negative influences and failures, making it vital for the management to keep the morale of the staff high and utilize various motivational methods regularly. Keep your workers happy and results will always be achieved.

It is not difficult to motivate your people if you follow these steps:

Have A Two Way Communication

It is very easy to give the directions and demand results, but a true leader will ensure that the communication channel is not one way. It is vital that you let your employees feel that they are important; that they are heard. When you try to understand them and seek their opinion they feel they are valued and important part of organization. This sense of belonging motivates employees to work at a higher level of productivity.

Be With Them

If you lead by example, it will be having a very positive effect on the working of your people. When they see you working hard along with them and being excited about the job, they themselves will be motivated and will give more energies to their work.

Make Them Feel Significant

Remember people work primarily for themselves and their families. Their job must be fulfilling so that they feel that their talents and capabilities are being put to proper use and they are growing into better person. They should not be overloaded with work for which they need to compromise with their family time like regularly taking work to home.

Provide Incentives

Monetary benefits like incentives have always been great morale booster. Provide incentives to the employees who have done truly outstanding work. It is not necessary that these incentives be expensive but even your genuine appreciation in the form of small gifts or a handwritten note will go a long way. It will be doubly effective if you show your appreciation in front of other staff members.

Give Them Independence

Your employees feel motivated when they understand that you have faith on their abilities. As the founder of Nike, Phil Knight said tell your people what to do, not how to do and let them amaze you with the results. Instead of interfering in their job and telling them how you would have completed this task, it is better if you give your staff independence to complete the job in their own manner. It may turn out to be even better than your expectations.

Celebrate Their Wins

When you celebrate the wins of your people it is highly motivating for yourself as well as for your team. They feel driven when they see you have acknowledged their achievements and are happy for them. They bond with you more. It also give them some time to relax and recharge for the next assignment.

Treat Them Like You Want To Be Treated

One of the most motivating things in an organization is when you treat your employees in a manner you yourself want to be treated. Don’t be too hard on them for some temporary failure if you would not like yourself to be dealt with severely had you been doing the same job at the first place. Recognize and give credit to them for their smaller achievements also as you would like for yourself. In short put yourself in their shoes and then decide.

Have Worthwhile Goals

No amount of efforts will work to motivate your people if you don’t provide them with a long term vision and clear cut goals. Your goals should be clear like bull’s eye backed up with reasonable plans to achieve them. Everyone feels motivated in a powerful manner when they see progress being made in moving towards their goals. Long term vision will provide your staff with purpose and a sense of fulfillment on achieving their goals. Being bound by a common higher purpose is a highly motivating factor.

Encourage Creativity

If you encourage creativity in your organization by giving your people freedom to do tasks in their own way, they will come out with innovative ways to complete the job. They will share the resources, find new ways to use them more frugally or judiciously. They will feel themselves to be important part of the company. Encouraging creativity of your employees can turn out to be a win-win situation. On one hand it will motivate the employees, on the other hand it will benefit the company by developing a culture of mutual trust. Remember culture and values can substitute for money and resources.

Create Friendly Work Atmosphere

Your office should be having a comfortable and friendly work environment as your employees spend a significant part of their day there. Pleasant atmosphere will lead to increase in their productivity. Look after the comfort of your people by providing comfortable furniture, food or beverages and even flexible work hours if that is possible. A friendly work environment is a great motivator.

Provide Appropriate Resources

As a leader it is your responsibility that you provide the necessary resources to your team. They may be good at their work but their final outcome can be marred due to non availability of the appropriate resources. Keep in mind that no army will be able to win a war against a strong enemy in the absence of a suitable armory.

Motivating your employees is not a challenge if you seriously look into these things. Apart this just keep in mind that it is all about the relationship that you develop with your team. take out some time from your busy schedule and spend some time with your employees and know their difficulties, their ambitions, get the feed back. All these will help you to develop a stronger relationship with your employees. Not only this will help in you knowing what makes your people work, but your staff also will be motivated knowing that they are valued, respected and trusted by you.

Related article: Best Ways To Retain Your Good Employees