Motivating Employees – 3 Top Tips by gThankYou!

Ask any CEO and they’ll tell you that employee motivation is a key factor when it comes to not just an individual’s performance, but also group productivity. A motivated team helps on many fronts; a more pleasant working office environment, supporting company values and increasing productivity to name just a few.
Justin Schuster, Vice President of enterprise products at MarketTools, Inc. says: “A strong correlation exists between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, a company’s revenue and profitability.”
So how do you keep your employees motivated? We’ve decided to help inspire you with the top three tips for employee motivation. And here’s a secret; employee recognition doesn’t have to cost you anything!

Tip 1: Involve Them in Your Business

Not Sure How? Here are a few examples:

• Share Business Goals
  Make your business goals transparent and share these goals openly with your employees; that way they’ll feel like part of the bigger picture, and not just an unimportant cog in the overall works of your business.

In “Wake up and smell the coffee: how Pret A Manger motivates their team members”, Richard Harpham, Head of Strategy for Pret A Manger explains:  “Every Tuesday morning sees the Head Office staff coming together for a “Team Brief”, where the Head of a particular department gives an update on their area, highlights the latest company figures, and talks about anything in “The Pret News” – most likely new shops that have opened or success stories from the week.”

This breaks down the information hierarchy common in many companies, as all staff leaves having the same understanding of everything that’s going on.

• Involve Employees in Solving Business Issues
  Don’t just make them aware of your goals – actively involve them in solving business issues. This will be to your benefit as well as theirs, as they might be able to answer questions that you’ve been unable to solve yourself.

• Provide Opportunities for Idea Sharing & Teaching
  Giving these responsibilities and open communication allow your employees to feel like they’re participating in improving their work and expanding their career horizons; in turn, they’ll feel better about themselves and be more motivated.

• Make Routine Work More Interesting
  You many not be able to make everyone’s work more interesting, but you can find ways to make being at work more fun.  Crowd source the team building exercises for the next team meeting or give camera’s to employees and challenge them to take pictures of what’s “right” about work – then make a big collage of them and hang it in a public place. Get employees involved, they will be grateful.

Tip 2:  Celebrate Employees Regularly 

Dr. Bob Nelson, unofficial founder of Employee Appreciation Day, says: “There’s a big difference between getting people to come to work and getting them to do their best work. I believe employees should be appreciated on a daily basis when they perform well, so having this day in their honor is really meant to be a reminder to all managers to value their employees.”
You can do this by recognizing and rewarding good work and achievements when they happen.  Say ‘thank you’ often, and show you appreciate them face-to-face; be friendly and sincere. This will help you to build a culture of respect and employee recognition within your business environment.
At Pret A Manger, Harpham continues, “Head Office staff carry “Wow!” cards, which are handed out to any shop team member that has impressed. The top performing shops (measured against a number of factors, not all financial), are recognized monthly with a team event of their choice, and individuals that offer exceptional service can be picked out by our third-party mystery shoppers. For individuals or teams that have truly out-performed, recognition becomes a more public event, with the incumbents called to the stage at our quarterly off-sites, and congratulated before the whole company.”
And remember, it doesn’t have to take a big effort to say ‘thank you’ – it’s how you say it that counts. Natalie Grace, from Demand Media, says in “How to Celebrate Employees“: “Celebrating your employees can range from a simple thank-you card to an employee anniversary recognition event. Regardless of the extent of the celebration, as long as you deliver it in a thoughtful manner, it will positively affect your employees.”

Tip 3:  Enable Employees to Actively Participate in Recognition and Reward Schemes

Many companies recognize the power of engaging employees to nominate and reward their peers.  At Pret A Manger, “employees can nominate colleagues for our awards, and the participation is extraordinary” says Harpham.   Why not give new hires gift certificates or cash to gift back to those who helped them most to learn the ropes?
A good place to start is to provide managers with a “tool kit” of recognition items to use in the moment when the need to recognize great work arises.  It could be as simple as your own company version of “Wow” Cards and the ability to share nominal gifts for occasions of special effort.
If your team has certain goals, why not make a chart to help track these as they are gradually achieved? Have employees work out the “how” and “when” milestones and build in the recognition rewards they want along the way.
Jim Autry, author of Love and Profit reminds us, “finally, the greatest job enrichment of all is your attitude. If you pay attention, listen, be accessible, open-up, and provide your people with as many special treatments and celebrations and learning experiences as you can, you’ll be overwhelmed by the abundance of thinking all around you.”
With that in mind, why not get started motivating your employees today?

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About gThankYou, LLC

Turkey Gift Certificates and Turkey Or Ham Gift Certificates by gThankYou! are two of America’s favorite employee gifts and can be redeemed for any Brand (Turkey or Turkey Or Ham), at virtually any Grocery Store in the U.S.
gThankYou, LLC provides company leaders with a variety of easy, meaningful and affordable ways to recognize and reward employees, holiday time or anytime.  gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude and our free Enclosure Cards are personalizable including incorporating your company logo. And, nearly all orders ship same day.
gThankYou, LLC (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  Contact:  Rick Kiley, Chief ThankYou! Officer, gThankYou, LLC at info@gthankyou.com or 888-484-1658.
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