How to motivate your employees with improved well-being and employee engagement

Some tips for motivating employees & the skills managers need to improve employee engagement at work.
How to motivate your employees with improved well-being and employee engagement
By
David Walker

Motivation and involvement of the company’s employees in relation to their work is one of the main elements of the formation of a positive and high-quality company culture.

According to recent studies, only 15% of today’s workers are actively engaged at work.

Disengaged employees are considered to be those who don’t have enough time to complete certain tasks, or skip them, or simply stop growing at their company. They don’t progress and don’t reproduce better quality work over time.

Motivation is a reason and a duty to do something. A motivated person performs certain actions because they will help her get what she wants; to get closer to the ‘motivator’ (an achievement, reward, or the satisfaction of completing something). To some extent, this is pure calculation: “if I do X, then I get Y.”

Engagement is emotional commitment and the desire to do more. The involved employee shares their ideas, views and values at work, feels their belonging and wants to be a part of the process to reach the goals set by the company.

Some tips for companies to increase employee engagement

Start on Day 1

From their first day at work, newbies need to be invested in for the long haul. Don’t overload them with paperwork, rather try to show them the value of their job (and that it does not consist in just sorting through papers and documents).

Capitalize on their new interest and enthusiasm by allowing them to try their hand at different tasks, introducing them to colleagues and giving them a mentor to guide them.

If new employees feel welcomed as team members and easily become a part of your culture, they will have a positive first impression that will stay with them throughout their career at your company.

Good Managers

You need to hire strong, motivated leaders for middle management positions. Successful managers continually assess how employees feel about their work environment and whether they are involved in their work. Companies that do not do this may have difficulty retaining existing employees and attracting new effective talent.

Managers influence the level of staff involvement in at least 70% of cases.

Realistic goals in collaboration with staff

When employees feel personally involved in setting goals, they also feel personally responsible, needed and valued to achieve those goals in the company. When you stop micro-managing people and give them the autonomy to get the job done in the most creative and efficient way possible, you’ll most often be surprised at the great outcomes they achieve!

Transparency

When employees feel that their managers are open, honest and trusting toward them, the level of employee happiness rises by 94%. Indeed, transparency at work has a wide range of benefits, from making goal-setting and performance easier to creating a platform for more great ideas to be shared. Creating a transparent atmosphere in your team makes for smoother business operations overall.

Maintain visibility

Both upper and secondary leadership must be visible and accessible to all employees. An important part of transparent work culture is to form a flatter company structure with less hierarchy and bureaucratic processes.

How does this affect your bottom line? When leaders are more visible and available to employees, they have more opportunities to receive quick managerial guidance and assistance to get their work done more efficiently. In other words, more productivity = higher profitability.

The tools your team needs for high quality work

  • Infrastructure. This includes your company’s workflows, the tools your employees use to complete their tasks, and the organisational resources available to them.
  • Don’t forget about new technologies. Technology is advancing at an incredibly fast pace and more people are ready for these innovations. Most people are now looking for more digital transformation at work and are ready to adapt to new technologies, but most companies can’t keep up with the changes. It will be worth it! Many are still attached to the equipment and habits of the industrial age, which are becoming more and more obsolete. Reliance on old ways of doing leads to decreased productivity, slower communication, frustration at work and lower employee morale.

The psychological component of your work

As a manager, there are some fundamental soft skills you need to hone in order to keep your team motivated. Don’t be afraid to engage your emotions at work — empathy is a powerful way to understand others and to show them you care.

Respect

Are you often acknowledging your employees openly, giving them praise for their achievements and contributions to your company? This practice not only motivates them to work well, it also shows that you take your job seriously. The main thing is to be fair in giving recognition, because it’s important that everyone considers themselves equally a part and necessary to the team.

Empower

How often do you say ‘Thank You’ at work? You need to show your gratitude and support your employees as much as possible. A study concluded that employees who feel supported by leaders are 67% more involved and are more likely to remain in your company.

Employees who feel supported by leaders are 67% more engaged at work.

A simple Hi5, postcard or note saying thank you for a good job is much more effective than it might seem at first glance. Emotions are very important for all people, even at work.

Reward

Would your employees appreciate tangible rewards? Of course, a salary increase is always welcome, but there is not always enough finance available for this. Other ways to reward employees include having lunch with a manager, having a box of donuts delivered to the office, small gifts like movie tickets or gift cards, pool or gym passes, free time off or compensation for overtime work are all great ways to reward your employees for doing good work and also giving them the time they need for R&R.

We hope this article has given you some ideas to improve employee well-being and engagement at your company through some proven strategies. Don’t forget that as a manager you need to be ready to support and empower your employees to do more and grow at the company. This means you need to always show respect to employees and reward them for great work!

About The Author

David Walker economic writer and content creator. Strives to meet your requirements within your given deadline. David have acquired over ten years of work experience in finance and investing. Now he working for the company ICOholder.

Hi5 is an affordable online tool for improving employee well-being.

Check it out here >