When the Going Gets Tough: How to Keep Your Employees Motivated

Emma Sturgis

April 12, 2016

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Keeping employees motivated and happy means keeping employees. Those who are bored or frustrated will look for employment elsewhere or stay on without making any meaningful contribution to your bottom line. There are steps you can take to keep employee productivity moving in the right direction, but these simple ideas are often overlooked as implementing them takes time. They're well worth the effort, however, and will help you keep your employees ready to work.

Make Work Fun

Productivity is important, but so is letting off a little steam. Host chili cook-offs, let employees bring pets to work or schedule a mid-afternoon talent show. Activities that lighten the mood and give employees something to look forward to help keep them smiling and motivated. Create an environment where fun and laughter are encouraged, so people look forward to coming to work. The right people will thrive in this environment and may blossom into something that surprises you.

Listen, Then Act

An important part of motivating employees is making them feel invested in the company. An excellent way to do this is to listen to their ideas and suggestions. Unfortunately, this is where many managers and company leaders stop. Though listening is an excellent start, it's not enough by itself. To truly motivate employees, a sales manager with an online master's in organizational development says you must listen to their ideas and then act on them. While every idea you receive may not be stellar, weed out the good suggestions and let employees know you are acting on them and taking them seriously.

Invest in Your Staff

If you want to motivate your employees, give them something to work for. Any job will provide a paycheck, but not every employer offers great health insurance, helps with child care, reimburses college tuition or provides free lunches. While you can't give them everything they want, providing a few rare and stellar benefits can really boost morale and motivation levels. If you're not sure what to offer, ask.

Ditch Dashboards

Management often uses dashboards or snapshots to show employees and team members where a project or initiative stands. If you want to keep employees motivated, switch to using a timeline for ongoing projects. A timeline shows people how far they have yet to go while celebrating how far they've already come. It is much more dynamic and allows you to chart progress, which is key to motivation.

When trying to motivate employees, the simplest trick may be to view them as the assets they are. Make them feel as important to your business as they are and you're sure to get quite a bit of effort and dedication in return.