Tips for motivating employees
No matter how small or large, taking the steps to motivate employees will yield positive gains in a variety of ways. Small business owners who know how to motivate their employees will have, in turn, better employees.
Motivated employees are more productive and will stay with you longer.
But, if you fail to motivate your employees the opposite will happen. They’ll slack off at work. And the second a better offer comes their way, they will leave without thinking twice. Sound familiar? Thought so.
Do you know how to motivate employees? Continue reading for tips.
Realize why people leave their bosses
It’s widely known that people who hate their jobs and quit is because they don’t like their bosses. So if you’re a boss that’s difficult to work for, or worse downright offensive to deal with, retaining employees at your small business will be nearly impossible to do.
Once you realize that your managerial style and approach to managing people needs to be improved, and, hey, we all can improve every day, you’ll be on your way to becoming a boss no one will one to leave. Of course, you’ll have to be humble and take a look in the mirror but you’ll see more reward than ever before.
Study leadership techniques
Whatever point you are in your career as a small business owner, taking a refresher on leadership and people management will help you tremendously grow as a professional.
If you do have the budget to hire someone in a leadership role to manage your employees for you, then be sure that this individual undergoes continuous leadership training.
Not only will this help sharpen this person’s leadership skills, but his or her’s direct reports will have a better manager in place. It’s a win-win.
Show support by asking questions
Believe it or not, but your team wants to help you. They want to feel needed and valued. First you need to show support to your employees. But how? The ideal way is to handle this on a person-by-person basis as every employee is unique and has a different set of desires and needs.
Get started by holding regular check-in conversations and asking about concerns and challenges. Listen attentively. This feedback will inform you on how can support your team members.
They will appreciate that you’ve asked and listened, all of which mark the characteristics of excellent leadership.
Empower employees through delegating responsibilities
Get comfortable delegating tasks and responsibilities. Learn to let go and stop trying to control everything. You’ll burnout! When you distribute work fairly, your employees will feel useful and valued.
Be sure when delegating that workloads maintain a balance among the team. You don’t want to drown one person in work and have another team member coasting along because they barely have anything to do.
Show praise when credit is due
An excellent way to motivate employees is to praise them for a job well done. It is so simple, yet so critical in employee retention.
Show appreciation, whether in the form of a bonus, an award or a public announcement in a meeting or company wide email, that someone has achieved a major milestone or simply solved a problem, put it on blast.
Showing praise to your employees not only makes them feel appreciated, but doing so will help foster a positive working environment filled with productive people.
Sure, it’s tough running a SMB. We get it. Follow these tips and get your employees motivated to show up and win.