5 ways to improve employee motivation
It is important that companies continuously improve employee motivation. This is because employee motivation can have a huge impact on organizational success. While employee feedback should form and shape your organization’s motivation strategy, there are five core ways your company should consider:
- Way: Focus on engagement
- Use an engagement program to get a real-time picture, then work on the drivers with the biggest effect
- Way: Recognition program
- Pick one that is intuitive, lets people say thank you in a fun way and has point-based rewards
- Way: Exciting incentives
- Experiential rewards, bonuses, schedule and location flexibility, paid time off, matched to team wishes and company values
- Way: A culture people want to join
- Align it with company values and build a sense of belonging
- Way: Empower employees
- Ask each team member what they need to succeed and what is holding them back
| Way | First action |
|---|---|
| Focus on engagement | Use an engagement program to get a real-time picture, then work on the drivers with the biggest effect |
| Recognition program | Pick one that is intuitive, lets people say thank you in a fun way and has point-based rewards |
| Exciting incentives | Experiential rewards, bonuses, schedule and location flexibility, paid time off, matched to team wishes and company values |
| A culture people want to join | Align it with company values and build a sense of belonging |
| Empower employees | Ask each team member what they need to succeed and what is holding them back |
1. Focus on employee engagement
The first and one of the most important ways for you to improve employee motivation is to focus on employee engagement. Employee engagement is closely related to employee motivation. In fact, engaged employees are enthusiastic and passionate about their job. Therefore, an employee engagement program/platform is useful for capturing a real-time picture of the engagement. Then, focus on the drivers that will make the greatest impact at your company.
2. Create an impactful employee recognition program
Creating an impactful employee recognition program is another integral way to improve employee motivation. An employee recognition program enables companies to thank and reward their employees for their hard work. Furthermore, it’s a core driver of employee motivation. After all, if employees don’t feel like they are appreciated or valued enough, why would they be motivated to do their best? An effective employee recognition program includes both social and monetary parts. So, to start fostering a culture of recognition at your company, find and select an employee recognition program that is intuitive to use, allows employees to say thank you in a fun way, and includes a point-based reward system.
3. Offer exciting incentives
To improve employee motivation, offer exciting incentives! Nowadays, employees want incentives that go beyond traditional offerings like health insurance and retirement benefits. Instead, employees want exciting incentives such as experiential rewards, bonuses, schedule and location flexibility, and paid time off. For that reason, it is important to design an incentive program that aligns with both your team’s desires and your company’s values.
4. Create a culture that employees want to be a part of
Organizational culture is the combination of values, expectations, and practices that guide what your team does each day. If your company’s culture makes your employees feel like they belong, it makes it easier for them to become involved and invested into your organization’s success. In fact, 65% of employees say that culture plays a huge role in why they stay at their current jobs. Hence, when creating a company culture that employees want to be a part of, it should align with your company values and foster a sense of belongingness.
5. Empower employees to succeed
A final way we’d like to share on how you can improve employee motivation is to empower your employees to succeed. Employees who are empowered are confident that their managers and the entire organization will provide them with the support and resources they need to succeed. So, to start empowering your employees, gather direct input from each of your team members on what they need to succeed and what’s refraining them from doing so. In essence, doing this will allow your organization to do more than just giving employees the resources that their roles require.
- 1See
Get a real-time picture of engagement
An engagement program or platform shows how engaged people are right now - 2Choose
Focus on the drivers with most impact
Pick the drivers that will make the greatest difference at your company - 3Ask
Ask each person what they need
Gather direct input on what each team member needs to succeed and what is holding them back - 4Act
Provide more than the role requires
Employee feedback shapes the whole strategy, and empowered employees are confident of the support they will get
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you improve employee motivation?
Five approaches work together. Focus on engagement first, since engaged employees are enthusiastic about their job. Build a recognition program that lets people say thank you and rewards good work. Offer incentives people actually want. Shape a culture employees want to belong to. And empower people by asking each team member what they need to succeed and what is holding them back, then providing it. Let employee feedback shape the whole strategy.
What is the link between employee engagement and motivation?
They are closely related. Engaged employees are enthusiastic and passionate about their work, and that energy is what motivation looks like day to day. An engagement program or platform gives a real-time picture of how engaged people are, which tells you where motivation is weak. From there, concentrate on the drivers that will make the biggest difference at your company rather than trying to fix everything at once.
How does an employee recognition program improve motivation?
Recognition lets a company thank and reward people for hard work, and it is a core driver of motivation: employees who do not feel appreciated or valued have little reason to give their best. An effective program has both social and monetary parts. Choose one that is intuitive to use, lets people say thank you in a way that feels good, and includes a points-based reward system so rewards can be personal.
What incentives motivate employees?
Incentives that go beyond traditional health insurance and retirement benefits. Employees respond to experiential rewards, bonuses, flexibility in schedule and location, and paid time off. The incentive program should line up with what your team wants and with the company's values, so design it with input from the people it is meant to motivate rather than copying a standard package.
How does company culture affect motivation?
Organizational culture is the combination of values, expectations and practices that guide what your team does each day. When the culture makes employees feel they belong, it is easier for them to get involved and invested in the organization's success, and culture is a large part of why people stay in their jobs. A culture worth belonging to should match your company values and build a sense of belonging.
What does it mean to empower employees?
Empowered employees are confident that their managers and the organization will give them the support and resources they need to succeed. Empowerment starts with asking: gather direct input from each team member on what they need and what is stopping them. Acting on those answers lets the organization do more than hand out the resources a role requires, and it shows people that their success matters.
Motivate your employees with LeanSuite
LeanSuite makes it easy for you to adopt a centralized platform to improve employee motivation. It is a lean manufacturing software that has a built-in app called the Idea Management System. It is an idea management system that acts as an integrated ecosystem for engaging and motivating your workforce. It includes key features like:
- The marketplace: Choose from a wide selection of rewards that aligns with your company’s budget and your employee’s desires
- The leaderboard: Motivate your employees to do their best and reach the top with the public leaderboard
- The built-in recognition and reward system: Recognize and reward top performers
Free for this topic: Leader standard work template, Gemba walk checklist, Lean maturity self-assessment
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