Money is not the most important factor when it comes to motivating employees. When asked if money was important to their job productivity, nearly 80 percent of working Americans responded that money was not a key factor. If not money, then what does motivate employees?
We have to draw a decisive line here between motivation and productivity. Even the most motivated employees can be less than productive. How is that possible? Because employees motivated by a higher paycheck will only be inspired to do just enough work to not get fired. You may believe that you are getting the most productivity possible out of your employees by paying them a lot of money, but the reality is that you are not getting everything out of your employees that you could.
When you get maximum productivity out of your employees, then you are getting a premium return on your investment in salaries. Every business looks to get the best possible return on its investment in each aspect of business, and that includes productivity. The key to improving efficiency in your employees is not to pay them more money. The key is to pay a competitive salary and create a work environment that demands maximum production.
Offer Advancement
If your employees are working with no way of moving up in the company if they perform well, then they have no inspiration to do more than what is required of them. But when you start basing promotions and access to better opportunities within the company on their performance, then you will start to see better productivity.
In this instance, you do have employees that are working hard to achieve a higher paycheck. But you are also inspiring the future leaders within your organization to rise to the top, and that will only help your organization as it grows.
Reward Good Work Instead Of Only Punishing Mistakes
One of the biggest mistakes that employers make is to punish employees for mistakes without offering rewards for good performance. Once again, this system will only inspire employees to do just enough to not get into trouble or be punished.
Offer rewards for employees that make suggestions to the company that is used to improve productivity and recognize employees that exceed productivity goals or go out of their way to help the company to succeed. This will help you to inspire all of your personnel to work harder for success.
Give Your Employees The Tools They Need
The fastest way to demotivate and employee is to not train that employee on how to do their job. Knowledge is power, and you can significantly motivate your staff to succeed if you take the time to teach them how to do every aspect of their jobs.
You can motivate your employees to reach for more success by offering them training on the jobs that they would like to attain. You would be surprised how many employees will sign up voluntarily for training classes that would help them to reach for job positions that they would not have otherwise had access to.
Make Company And Departmental Goals Very Clear
On a difficult day at work, many of your employees are inevitably going to wonder why they continue to work so hard. This is where the idea that 80 percent of employees do not consider their paycheck to be the most important reason to come to work becomes important. If you cannot inspire your employees to work on the difficult days with pay, then what are you supposed to do?
When employees see the numbers that their performances are tied to, then it gives them a clear understanding of why they are working so hard and what their contribution does to help move the company forward. Make departmental and company financial and production goals very clear and offer daily updates as to where the actual numbers stand when compared to the goals. You will find that many employees start taking those goals very seriously because they understand that their long-term success is directly tied to the success of the company.
Management Needs To Be Involved
A manager who locks themselves in their office all day and never comes out to interact with employees will find it almost impossible to inspire maximum productivity. Perhaps the simplest suggestion that can be made when it comes to getting the most out of your employees is to get your management team directly involved in the day-to-day operations of each employee.
Managers need to spend some time each day offering advice to employees, giving encouragement and showing employees more efficient ways to do their jobs. An engaged management team will inspire your employees and increase productivity.
One of the side-effects of improving productivity is that it also lowers turnover. When employees feel the personal need to improve productivity, then they also develop a stronger interest in the success of the company. This emotional attachment to the company’s performance improves productivity and inspires employees to stay with the company. That is why improving productivity is a win-win for the company and employees.
