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Short project deadlines, meetings after meetings, last-minute changes, or personal struggles could all affect employee motivation and productivity. Employee motivation is the level of commitment, energy, and innovation displayed towards work, and managers understand how crucial employee motivation is to the bottom line.
Motivated employees are creative, enthusiastic, and driven. They take pride in their work and strive to achieve business goals. Here are great tips for team managers to keep employees productive and motivated.
1. Convey the Big Picture
Most employees get caught up in the day-to-day tasks, and they never stop to consider the broader impacts of their jobs. Through clear communication, managers can accentuate the expected outcomes and how every team member’s role fits into the big picture. Ensure each employee understands that they are integral to the organization’s success. Likewise, ensure they understand how success is measured and how everyone contributes to the success of the team.
2. Create a Positive Organizational Culture
An organization’s culture is the shared belief, philosophy, and values that guide decisions and behaviors. A good organizational culture improves teamwork and productivity and makes showing up at work each day enjoyable. According to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), toxic workplaces cost companies billions of dollars. The report also indicates that one in every five employees surveyed had left a previous job in the last five years, citing a toxic work environment as the reason for their decision.
Managers must create a work environment that fosters growth, respect, and value for people. Recognizing and rewarding exceptional talent and commitment also helps boost employee morale and reminds them that they are integral to the team’s success. Embracing diversity and inclusion and reverberating a zero-tolerance for discrimination of all forms ensures everyone feels welcome on the team.
3. Encourage Collaboration
Collaborations within and across teams strengthen employee relationships. Fostering a culture of collaboration makes employees feel they are contributing to something bigger than themselves. Smart companies invest in flexible communication solutions that allow teams to seamlessly plan, share, and organize work tasks. With various collaboration tools on the market, it may be difficult to know the best fit for your company. But when considering flexibility, cost, and efficiency, take a look at RingCentral video vs Slack comparison to know which best suits your needs.
RingCentral is a collaboration and communication software that allows video calls and chats between employees and team management. It helps teams to plan, organize tasks, and share seamlessly. Fostering team collaborations boost relationships and boost employee morale.
RingCentral’s free plan provides teams with the following:
- Unlimited text messages
- Unlimited video chats with 100 people or less
- Unlimited number of members
- Unlimited file storage
- Screen sharing features
- Unlimited integrations
Slack’s free plan, on the other hand, is limited to:
- 10,000 messages
- One-on-one video chats (no group calls unless on a paid plan)
- 5GB file storage limit
- No screen sharing features unless on a paid plan
- 10 third party integrations
4. Establish a System of Trust and Autonomy
Employees are on edge when they feel like someone is constantly breathing down their neck. Some employers feel like having people feel like they are about to lose their jobs would help motivate them, but that only leads to stress, loss of focus, and mental and sometimes physical disorientation.
Managers must instill a culture of trust and autonomy to help employees do their jobs. With the right tools and guidelines, employees are bound to flourish. Implementing autonomy, however, can be a challenge for managers as, in some cases, it is interpreted as complete independence. Workplace autonomy is all about letting employees work in the most conducive way that enhances their performance. It means giving them support, resources, and training to do their jobs and encouraging them to be go-getters.
Autonomy goes a long way in making employees feel valued and important, which results in improved productivity, accountability, and employee retention.
Boost Morale
Team morale is vital to achieving business objectives. A motivated employee is a productive employee, and managers must take responsibility for team morale by initiating team-building exercises, mentoring, and exemplifying strong work ethics. This can reduce high turnover rates and set your team up for success in the future.
