Best Ways Leaders Can Motivate Their Team
A great team can accomplish any task. Perfectly-tailored teams have the right combination of energy, knowledge, skills and motivation. From employers’ point of view, the great teams require high maintenance. Still, investments in creating perfect teams and motivating them, always provide the best ROI. Healthy work environment also decreases the employee turnover rate, and that’s why advanced team-building is one of the most important management tasks.
Since good teams always consist of happy and motivated employees, the employers need to invest both time and money in motivating each team member. Before they start with handing out benefits and planning flexible workhours, employers need to conduct a survey that will help them to determine the appropriate practices and incentives that will bring the desired results. In this article, we will share some of the best ways how leaders can motivate their team and keep their employees happy and satisfied.
Pay employees what they are worth
Paying people what they are worth is the best incentive. Any other setting will cause problems. Employers who underpay their team, force employees to passively search for another job. This increases company’s turnover rates and may cause strikes and other union problems. Companies that overpay employees need to cut their salaries after facing the first market problems. This will make employees disillusioned, and they will start looking for another job or slow down their work and development.
Leaders who aren’t sure how much their employees worth can check that on an online pay calculator, or they can conduct a more thorough research that will show how much revenue each employee brings.
Improve the work environment
Work environment needs to be pleasant and stress-free. It should make employees fall in love with their office space and their work. Although employers think that increasing the workplace comfort requires large investments, offices can be made more comfortable with just a few easy and affordable alterations. Employers can buy new, more comfortable chairs, or introduce a chill-out zone, where employees will eat their lunch and socialize during work breaks.
Provide better career opportunities
Employees don’t like to be tied to one position, while their colleagues from other companies are climbing the corporate ladder. Career opportunities need to follow the company’s growth. Employers should hand out promotions and raises at least once a year and the best employees should constantly get the attention they deserve.
Self-development
Employees’ self-development benefits the whole business operation. By sending them to seminars, conferences, and courses, companies can improve employee’s expertise and make their work faster and more efficient. In some niches, employees need to follow the trends and industry news on a regular basis, and trade events are the best place for them to get the latest insights. By providing their team with adequate training, leaders are increasing its value. The self-development also has a very important motivational aspect, because it makes employees feel more valuable.
Give out presents
Leaders can easily make their team feel special, by handing out presents on work anniversaries or after a job well done. Even the smallest present will improve employees’ satisfaction and loyalty. These presents need to be personal. So, if they don’t know their team’s interests, wants, and needs, leaders should give out gift cards or some other type of voucher that employees can use to purchase useful things.
Make meetings short and interesting
Every company should organize team meetings on a regular basis. Teams need to meet at least twice a week. On Mondays, they should discuss the challenges that they’ll be facing during the ongoing work week, and on Fridays, they can assess the work results and the performance of every team member. These types of meetings tend to become boring and stressful. That is why companies and leaders need to take extra steps in order to increase employee participation and engagement. Every team member should be able to speak and propose changes that will improve team’s work process. Team leaders can also attract their subordinates with catering and cold and hot beverages.
The fundamentals of leadership don’t depend on team’s performance. In both good and bad times, managers need to give attention to every employee. Managers should always stick to the most basic leadership rules, any favoritism is unacceptable, as well as the taking credit for other people’s ideas. Managers who stick to these rules and who are always fighting to improve their subordinates’ position within the company organization, won’t have problems with motivating their team and keeping everybody on the same page.