Motivating Employees

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One of the number one concerns of small business owners is how to motivate employees.  With the recent recession and overall state of the economy, employee morale can be low for various reasons which include fear of being laid off, forced pay cuts and/or furloughs and fewer employees resulting in more work divided amongst fewer people.

Increasing employee morale can be extremely important, especially in a time where 70% of Generation Y workers leave their first job after graduation, within two years, in search of an ideal workplace.

So what can a small business owner do to replace the general feeling of lethargy with an air of team spirit?  We’ve gathered advice from all over to provide you with some of the best solutions.

Sales Games

Creating sales games within your company can make your employees more excited about work, knowing that they’re productivity will not only benefit the company, but them individually as well.  “Internal competition helps [employees] be more productive at what they are accountable for.  And ultimately, that puts the company in a better position to win market share,” said Nick Friedman, president of College Hunks Hauling Junk (as quoted in Inc.com).

Encourage Ideas

When employees feel their ideas and input are valued, they may be more likely to share them.  “Rewarding bright ideas can foster creativity and save companies a lot of money,” wrote Dale K. DuPont for BNET.

DuPont advises employers to follow through by ensuring that all suggestions are reviewed and acted on soon after they are submitted and widely publicizing suggestions used and their positive impact on the organization.

Voting

By allowing employees to vote on things such as company policies, procedures, ideas etc. you are helping them to feel more like a part of the team and as if they’re opinions and feelings matter and help to shape the company as a whole.  Consider the following excerpt from Inc.com:

Mike Hall of Borrego Systems, a solar-panel business, used SurveyMonkey to allow all his employees to vote on the best idea that was put in the virtual suggestion box. The winner received a $500 prize. While only a handful of employees submitted ideas, the majority of Borrego’s staff participated in voting, reinforcing the message that every employee has a stake in the outcome.

*What tactics have you used to motivate your employees?