Keeping your team members engaged and motivated is vitally important to any business and in today’s world employees have plenty of options if they lose motivation at your establishment. In this article we’re going to look a few easy ways you can motivate your team members while keeping them engaged and happy at your firm.

Employees today are much more complex than previous generations and motivation isn’t simply a matter of salary. While high salaries for many people can be a great motivator for others it comes down to more important factors that no amount of salary will override. In a post lockdown world employees value factors such as work flexibility and health perks in their employment package rather than straight out cash. Offering workers the chance to work from home (this has now become a normal expectation) can be more enticing than the cash equivalent. Free gym membership, comprehensive health insurance and an e-bike are among the list of perks people are looking for in their employment package.

Autonomy can be a huge motivator. While this doesn’t lend itself to all roles many jobs can include a certain level of autonomy and problem solving which keeps people engaged. Most team members prefer some level of self determination and everyone enjoys taking on certain amounts of responsibility. By giving people autonomy and responsibility most will thrive and stay motivated at their tasks. This has really important implications for your business.

Praise can be a powerful motivator as it gives people pride in what they do. This can be particularly important for your team members in a customer facing role as this can be a challenging task (depending on who your customers are). So praising great customer service or problem solving can go a long way to retaining key team members. Everyone, no matter how experienced, enjoys being praised for doing well, whatever that is in your particular company.

Recognition, like praise, can be a powerful motivator. It can be as simple as an employee of the week or month award or just a mention in a company or staff newsletter. You could offer cash prizes or entry into a draw for a much bigger annual prize. People like to be recognized, particularly if they’re in a pretty thankless role, and psychologically recognition is very powerful.

So there you have it - a few quick and simple techniques to increase employee motivation which will not only help them but will help your company along with increasing worker retention as well. Happy and motivated staff lends itself to satisfied customers which is vitally important to any business, no matter the size.

How to Keep Your Employees Motivated in the Office