A positive work culture and a good organizational climate help bring effective results to any company. They create an environment that promotes innovation and increases employees’ productivity and commitment. However, these benefits can only be achieved through employees’ motivation and performance.
Motivation at work has been the subject of much research in recent decades, which has produced different theories about the factors that influence employees’ happiness and satisfaction. Valued, committed, guided, and trained employees are more productive, have broader knowledge, and a more proactive attitude, contributing to the company’s and their own colleagues’ development. In this way, valuing your employees improves efficiency and optimization on all fronts.
How do we get a motivated and committed workforce? What strategies can we apply?
1. Provide new challenges
According to the Harvard Business Review, 85% of workers feel less attached to their job within six months of being hired. If we want to keep teams permanently motivated, we need to encourage employees to play to their strengths and expand their skills and provide them with the training tools to do so. To make this happen in the best possible way, we must invest in good planning. Evaluating the execution possibilities, determining the number of actions to be carried out, and defining the available resources will make the planning feasible.
2. Promote equity throughout the company and a fair salary policy
Although salary is the most motivating factor for professionals, 75% of HR managers agree that managers’ roles have expanded, but that roles and teams are not structured to promote well-being. What we need is a level playing field that creates a sense of fairness among staff in terms of salary and job opportunities. Invest in actions that will make employees feel valued and make sure to encourage internal mobility and promotion to retain talent.
3. Align the work with the employee
Another of the most effective motivational strategies is to place each employee in a position that matches their skills and abilities. In this way, employees will feel satisfied and eager to perform their duties. They’ll have the opportunity to grow and develop both inside and outside the company, and their opinions will be heard and respected, which will contribute to the growth of the company itself.
4. Seek understanding
A recommended approach to increase employee commitment is to invest in strengthening the company culture, ensuring that habits, beliefs, and values are communicated in the execution of activities. A strong and healthy culture ensures more motivated, aligned, and communicative employees. There is a tendency to work in synergy and towards the same goal. To do this, you must establish the fundamental values that everyone must follow, such as empathy, respect, clarity, and assertiveness. . An important point is to make it clear that omission is also a means of communication and that most of the time it hinders the progress of projects. Once the values are defined, they should be part of a code of conduct, followed by leaders and reinforced every time an employee adopts the appropriate behavior. Remember that it is easier to lead by example than by command.
5. Promote emotional intelligence
When an employee has a high level of responsibility, is under constant pressure, or overloaded with tasks, it’s common to see situations in which they feel extremely stressed and can’t manage all the tasks. This can lead to excessive overtime, which should be avoided. This situation can lead them to develop psychological disorders, which can affect their personal and professional performance. To avoid this situation, emotional intelligence training can be provided to help them better cope with high levels of stress and daily pressure. It allows employees to better understand their feelings and emotions, to know where and why each of them arises, and how to control them effectively. This will help them avoid the stress of the countless situations everyone must face in their professional and personal lives.
6. Be proactive
Being proactive is a skill that companies are demanding more and more. Organizing training sessions to develop employee accountability is an excellent strategy. In this way, professionals anticipate demands and are always looking to innovate, experimenting with new methods to perform their activities better and better. These characteristics are essential both for employees to develop their careers and for the company to obtain better results.
7. Encourage a culture of feedback
The purpose of feedback is to inform employees of their progress to help them to improve their behavior and achieve good results. To achieve this, it’s essential to provide feedback that is constructive and increases the productivity of those being evaluated. Feedback can be collective or individual and should be frequent, respectful, and not a lecture or reprimand. It recognizes the achievements, learning, attitudes, and accomplishments of each person. Base your feedback on a principle of constructive criticism, pointing out obvious mistakes, but also suggesting ways to improve and adapt to what the company is looking for.
