If you’re a manager, you’ve doubtlessly dealt with employees at all ends of the spectrum, from workers who excel at their position to others whom you constantly had to motivate. It’s understandable; the professional world of the 21st century is incredibly competitive and motivating your employees can be a challenge.
However, 3C Contact Services has easy-to-follow tips that will motivate even employees who put in the bare minimum of effort to exceed expectations. This won’t be an issue for the office go-getters who look forward to coming into work every day, but what do you do about the employees who, while they do a good job, could do so much better?
The answer is to give them a feeling of ownership in the organization. Even if your employees don’t actually have any ownership in the company, feeling like they do, like their job plays a role in its profits and reputation, will motivate even the laziest and most apathetic employee to improve their performance. Besides workers being far more engaged and a lower turnover rate, it will also result in increased financial performance.
Since the 1970s, more and more organizations have given their employees the option of buying stocks in their company to provide incentives; this was due to the U.S. workforce experiencing a decline in productivity at the time. Even if your organization doesn’t have stock options, there are ways you can give your workers a feeling of ownership, even if it’s strictly symbolic.
Psychological Ownership
It was also found that having stock options wasn’t a huge motivating force for employees; while it was effective, it didn’t necessarily incite action in them nearly as much. On the other hand, if employees feel as though it is “their” company, it can greatly influence their disposition.
Even the most apathetic employee who does the bare minimum will feel motivated to do a better job, which in turn will result in greater customer satisfaction, improved products and services, and an overall greater commitment. This will also result in a decreased turnover rate, something that call center managers will doubtlessly appreciate.
High Autonomy
Put simply, this means how much employees can use their own judgement in carrying out tasks. While there will still need to be a degree of control depending on your industry, giving your employees a degree of autonomy can lead to an improved disposition at their job.
Involvement in Projects
This is a big motivating factor for workers. If they feel they are intimately involved with projects and actively taking a role in them, this can prove to be a big motivator, as can their level of independence on a project. Offer input, but don’t be a “helicopter boss,” constantly interfering; offer them independence and provide input when necessary.
Clean Working Environment
Don’t underestimate a clean office as one of the most effective methods of motivating employees. Employees have a higher appreciation for their workplace when the environment is clean. It motivates them to work harder and more efficiently, and they take more pride in everything they do.
Give Feedback to Employees
From the most motivated worker to the least, one of the best tips for motivating employees is to give them feedback. Everyone wants to know if what they are doing makes a difference and that what they are doing is being recognized. Giving feedback can set employees on the right track to improve their work or keep them motivated to continue doing a good job.
Create Team Events
Keeping employees in a silo can force them to feel detached. Even if your business doesn’t require much collaboration, find creative ways to bring everyone together in a productive activity. Team events are one of the things that motivate employees by showing them that you recognize each of them.
Provide Small Prizes
You may already have a bonus structure built into your means of compensation for your employees, but why not take it a step further and have small prizes throughout the month? The prizes should be incentive based; when looking for ways to motivate your employees, this works well.
Reward Good Work
When it comes to motivating employees in the workplace, few actions work better than rewarding them for their hard work. However, you need to find the reward that fits the goal achieved. You don’t want to give too little or too much in these instances. You must find the balance so that an employee will appreciate the reward and feel satisfied and encouraged.
Find Out What Motivates Your Staff
We can give you all the tips possible for motivating your staff, but the best way to keep your team inspired is to ask them. Find out what most pushes your employees to work harder, and have that be a motivating factor. Also, any time there is an opportunity to engage an employee, you should take that chance.
As the leading provider of outsourced call center solutions, 3C Contact Services teaches its partners the necessary customer service skills needed to engage and retain customers and clients, thus optimizing the customer service they provide. Call us today at 1-888-353-2335 for more information.
Source:
Bullock, R., “Motivating Employees Has Everything To Do With Giving Them Feelings Of Ownership,” Forbes, September 25, 2014; http://www.forbes.com/sites/datafreaks/2014/09/25/motivating-employees-has-almost-nothing-to-do-with-their-attitude-and-almost-everything-to-do-with-feelings-of-ownership/.
