The main difference between companies that continuously succeed and those that seem to be forever floundering can often be traced back to a level of motivation held by the staff. This article describes how to go about inspiring and motivating your workforce.

If a workforce is motivated, success usually follows, which in turn inspires and further motivates the employees to yet further success. Successful companies go into a self-perpetuating motion that brings more and more success and the associated rewards.

Take a few moments now to think about one or two of the successful companies you know of and consider whether what I say is correct.

Hopefully you agree that high motivation is inseparable from success. By taking a conscious control of the level of employee motivation in your company you are assisting your staff to step outside of a comfort zone that may be condemning your company to stagnate through procrastination.

I used to procrastinate a lot. I’m not so sure now!

Motivation is connected to staff development and learning in that it involves an intentional process to bring about the desired outcomes. In other words - some action is required.

Ideally, you want your staff to be self-motivated, purposeful in their tasks, with the minimum of direct supervision. If you achieve this you will find that motivation is something that will help you through the inevitable difficult times all companies face on occasions. Motivation is predominately an extrinsic condition. Your employees are beings that respond primarily to some form of external stimuli usually from a motivator. At a basic level most managers choose the ‘carrot or the stick’ method.

There are numerous rules connected to effective, motivational management. Too many to go into in this short article but, by way of example, managers must ‘praise in public’ and ‘chastise in private’.

Get the level of motivation right and you will find it is the glue that holds the success of your business together. It is a way of thinking that needs to permeate the whole philosophy of the company on a day-to-day basis. Once again think about successful companies, picture their staff in the work environment, and you will know what I mean.

I know it’s not easy - motivation is an extremely complex concept. It is a science that has been investigated and studied over the decades in many ways by many people. Perhaps one of the better-known scientists to research this thing called motivation is Abraham Maslow.

Carrying out research in the 1940s, Maslow identified five levels of needs that drive and motivate people’s behaviour. They are: 1. Physiological needs (e.g. a sheltered place for work, a comfortable temperature, etc.), 2. Safety needs (for job and personal security), 3. A sense of belonging (affection and identification in a team), 4. The need for esteem (prestige, success and self-respect) 5. The last, and perhaps one of the most important where company success is involved, is the need for self-actualisation. By this he refers to the instinctual need of employees to make the most of their abilities and to strive to be the best they can. Your people want to be motivated they may simply not know how to go about getting it!

Page 1 of 3 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 | Next