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7 Ways To Motivate Your Team… Without A Pay Rise

I was reading an article recently saying that 1 in 4 small business employees globally feel depressed and uninspired by their bosses. Read further at Perth now.

It can be costly to believe or have a mindset that giving more money or a pay rise to your team members equals happy employees.

Believing this is costing you valuable time, revenue, employees… Cash will always be a major factor in motivating people and a solid plan is critical to attracting and keeping key personnel. But the key is that additional cash is not always the only answer, and in many cases not even the best answer.

I have compiled some quick suggestions. Let’s look at 7 non-monetary motivation tips that can be implemented today…

  1. Recognition/Attention. When your employees accomplish something, they have achieved something. Your recognition is appreciation for that achievement. Managers and owners don’t give enough recognition for a good job done. Recognition is free! Do some spontaneous on the spot praise and of course a “Thanks” goes a long way too.
  2. One-on-One Coaching. Coaching is employee development. Implement a regular Performance review meeting.Document personal development needs and feedback from your team. Your only cost is time. Time means you care. And remember your people don’t care how much you know… until they know how much you care.
  3. Training. This ties in with personal development. You can never over train your team. As they learn and develop, so does your business. It might take some time and effort, but the benefits of training will continually enhance the performance of your people and the productivity of your business.
  4. Career Path. Your employees need to know what is potentially ahead for them, what opportunities there are for growth. This issue is a sometimes forgotten ingredient as to the importance it plays in the overall motivation of people. Set career paths within your organization. Do you promote from within? I hope you can answer yes to that. Although specific circumstances require you to look for talent outside your company, you should always first consider internal personnel. If you do this you are sending a very positive message to everyone that there are indeed further career opportunities within your organization.
  5. Good Work Environment. I heard of a recent industry study where employers were asked to rank what they thought motivated their people, and then employees were asked to rank what really did motivate them. Employers felt “working conditions” was a nine (or next to last) in terms of importance. What did the employees say? Number two! Working conditions are very important to the way employees feel about where they work. Some things to consider or ask yourself are: Does your office look nice?, Are there pictures on the walls, plants and fresh paint among other features that generally make people feel good about their environment?, Does their work space have enough room or are they cramped in a “sardine can?”, What about furniture? Is the desk the right size, chair comfortable?, Is there file space and do they have the miscellaneous office supplies needed for maximum performance?, Is the temperature regulated properly so they don’t feel they’re in the Amazon jungle one minute and the North Pole the next?
  6. Casual Dress Day. This will apply more to the Business-to-Business world, based on the difference in normal dress codes from the Business-to-Consumer arena. For those required to “dress business” every day, a casual day becomes a popular desire. I encourage Casual dress Fridays for example. Retail outlets use holidays to create theme colour casual days, such as red and green before Christmas, or black and orange prior to Halloween. Major sports events are a perfect opportunity for casual days to support your local or favourite team with appropriate colours, buttons, and logo wear.
  7. Time Off. Implement incentives that earn time off. People will compete for 15 minutes or 1/2 hour off just as hard as they will for a cash award. Put KPI’s (key performance indicators) in place and when these goals are reached by individuals, teams or the entire staff, reward them with time off.
  8. Additional Responsibility. Encourage and support more responsibility and accountability from your staff. You will be surprised on how they will rise to the challenge and it will make them feel more as part of the team.
  9. Food days. Every now and then bring in or organise pizza, popcorn, or cookie days that will help break up that everyday routine and help people stay motivated. Because it is a natural tendency for people to get excited in anticipation of something, structure some of these days in advance. Then buy some pizzas or different cookies or even whip out some different types of popcorn.

LEVERAGE Your Way To Success

Paul Duncan

Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au

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