Motivating your employees is key to the success of your company. Here are seven ways you can effectively increase your employees' motivation - starting today!

1. Ask each of your employees for what and how they'd like to recognized. Do they want to be recognized for the quality of their work or the quantity? For the way in which they do their work (cheerfully, efficiently, innovatively)? Do they want to be recognized individually or as part of a group? Publicly or privately? Look for opportunities to boost motivation by providing the recognition that each individual is seeking. For many people, a simple "thank you" in the form of a note on their desk or a voice-mail message will go much farther than a monetary reward.

2. Evaluate the roles/jobs in your organization. Do they involve a variety of challenging opportunities or have they been distilled into boring, repetitive tasks? Take advantage of opportunities to expand or enrich jobs/roles to increase variety, autonomy or decision-making authority.

3. Seek untapped resources. Ask your employees what skills/interests they possess that they are not currently using on the job and/or what skills/interests they would like to develop on the job. Look for ways enhance or enrich specific roles/positions to capitalize on this untapped potential and increase opportunities for challenge and variety.

4. Identify what employees find fulfilling. Ask them about their ideal workplace or job - they will typically describe an image that taps into their intrinsic motivation. Help them find ways to build elements of their ideal into their current job.

5. Review organization policies and practices. Determine if your organization enhances or inhibits employee motivation. What outcomes do employees receive? Do they value these outcomes? Do these outcomes encourage employees to put forth greater or lesser effort? Adjust practices, policies, and/or outcomes as appropriate to positively impact employee motivation.

6. Define expectations. Work with your employees to establish clear, measurable goals for their roles/tasks. Link these goals to the overall objectives of the organization and ensure that feedback is available to help employees track their progress toward their goals.

© 2008 Timothy I. Thomas

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