Motivating your employees isn’t always easy - but it’s crucial to developing a team that continues to improve and stays satisfied in their jobs. Motivation leads your team to work harder and more productively, and it’s an important factor in overall employee retention. 

But if it were easy to motivate every single employee at one time and keep them motivated throughout their time at your company, everyone would do it. 

Every employee is unique, with different values, ideas, and personal circumstances. To keep your team motivated and performing their best, you have to use multiple strategies to reach each member of your team. 

Keep your workforce happy and driven to succeed with these tips: 

Highlight opportunities for advancement

It’s easy to lose momentum when your job becomes repetitive. Going too long in the same position, with no changes or hope for change, will demotivate even the most ambitious employees. Offering opportunities for new challenges and responsibilities can motivate your employees to work harder. 

Advancement doesn’t have to mean a new job title and a raise. Employees want to know that you know what they’re good at in their job. Offering additional responsibilities in areas that interest your employees can be motivating, as well as offering them a role in training new team members or opportunities to receive specialty training or education. Help your employees grow and move forward, and they’ll be more excited about working for you. 

Pay attention

Some employees aren’t motivated by the chance to move up as much as they are by attention and appreciation. Taking the time to get to know your employees personally can make him or her feel truly appreciated. 

Offering direct praise when employees exceed performance goals or do exemplary work makes them feel recognized and also reinforces positive behavior for the whole team! Even more important is taking the time to offer personal coaching or just lending a listening ear when a member of your team is underperforming or has become overwhelmed by their duties. This shows that you care about them - not just their work - and that you’re willing to take steps to help them when they struggle. 

Be Transparent

Being open with employees about what is happening at the highest level gives everyone on the team a chance to ask questions and give feedback. Transparency builds trust, and employees that feel included in big decisions are more committed to the direction the company takes and tend to have more loyalty and pride to their workplace. 

Along these same lines, asking employees to be transparent about issues they are facing and what they like or don’t like about their jobs can build trust and motivation. Honest feedback is great in both directions - but the key is to take action based off that feedback. When employees know that their voice is heard and that their managers are willing to make those improvements, they will be more motivated to perform better. 

Knowing your team and what makes them tick is crucial for a manger, and keeping your employees motivated is valuable for meeting business goals and retaining talent. With some balance, flexibility, and a whole lot of patience, you can discover and implement new ways to motivate your team to be the best they can be!