Do you work with a ‘negative Nigel’? 4 tips to increase staff motivation

Internal (Intrinsic) – This type of motivation is something that comes from within a person, and is based off acceptance and personal wellbeing. Essentially, doing something for personal reasons.

External (Extrinsic) – Comes from external rewards and benefit systems directly. So, doing something because a reward persuades you to do so.

To strive for happy and productive staff, a mix of the above should be achieved. The four examples below, provide indirect routes to creating a more positive working environment.

No one likes being left in the dark

Ensuring employees are not left in the dark with the ins and outs of the business is something that, when possible, businesses should aim to achieve. This allows employees to understand what their work is contributing to. By creating transparency in the business it encourages engagement, increasing motivation and innovation.

There should also be transparency in the relationship between employee and business. Achieve this by understanding exactly what your employees demand, for example, creating a benefits package that fits exactly what employees wish for. Disconnected employees will not share the business’ philosophy and will not wish to plan a long-term future as an employee, resulting in a lack of motivation and productivity.

Taking an interest

Don’t get caught up attempting to achieve fancy benefits and forget about those which relax and motivate employees. For example, assisting in securing employee’s futures. This could be done through communication and use of pension schemes or providing personal financial education, to keep employees financially safe and help them achieve their personal goals.

We all know that sleep can be affected by having an unsure future - lack of sleep from employee’s costs the UK economy £40 billion a year (RAND). Settling the minds of employees by communicating their options when it comes to their future results in happier, loyal employees. 

Meaningful work

Do employees feel like their work is important to the organisation? When employees know what their work is clearly contributing, it gives a sense of importance and value. This will motivate employees to succeed as the end result is visible.

When employees feel their work load has little meaning to the overall success of the business and has little variation, employees will clearly become unmotivated. By giving employees varied and important work to complete, it will result in motivating employees to not only work, but to work to a high standard, providing a win-win scenario for managers.

Recognition and value

There are different forms that recognition can come in. But the important thing to realise here is not all rewards come in the form of financial incentives, especially when attempting to motivate employees.

Having a strong benefits package which meets the demands of your workforce is the first step in creating a sense of value amongst employees. However, personal recognition also creates the same outcome with a more personable result. The very nature of personalised recognition provides a sense of importance and appreciation which motivates employees to repeat success. After all, it is nice to know how well we are doing!

Try these four tips in your organisation to kick that ‘negative Nigel’ out and create an energetic and motivated workplace! 

This article was provided by Lemonade Reward.