As a business owner, you understand how important it is to motivate your employees. After all, motivated employees perform better and are far more likely to contribute enthusiastically to the success of your company.
But how do you motivate your employees?
Everyone is different. Your employees won’t all respond to the same motivations. You need to figure out the best ways to motivate different employees. Here are three different tactics to try as you attempt to motivate your workers:
1. Money
This is one of the oldest motivators in the book. How many of us use money as motivation? If your business can afford to pay its employees more, you can attract higher-quality, motivated workers. Costco has long been considered a good example of this. Costco pays its workers an hourly wage that is higher than most of its retail counterparts.
Many workers respond to compensation. They feel they are valued if they feel they are getting a good wage for the time they put in. If you can pay talented people to stick around, you are more likely to have a positive and motivated workforce.
2. Benefits and Perks
Money isn’t everything, though. One of the other areas in which Costco excels is with its benefits package. Healthcare and retirement options are generous at the company. You might be surprised at how important benefits are to many employees.
If you want to motivate your employees, you can offer a benefits package that is helpful. A good healthcare plan and a good retirement plan (with a match) can work wonders for employee motivation.
Other perks can also help motivate employees. Indeed, some workers are willing to work for a little less if they have perks like on-site childcare, a gym membership, and flexibility. In fact, offering more flex time for vacation or offering flexible hours and telecommuting options can keep employees happy and motivated. Even if you can’t provide
Even if you can’t provide a big salary, if you can offer freedom and flexibility, there is a good chance that you will be able to hire and retain quality employees that are motivated by those values.
3. Meaningful Work
Finally, another way to motivate your employees is to offer meaningful work. Perhaps you can’t afford a fancy benefits package or a huge amount of money. But if you can work with a mission, there is a good chance that you can motivate your employees to do high-quality, hard work.
Many of us like to feel as though our lives have meaning. Doing work that you feel adds value to the world can be a powerful motivator. If your company has a mission others agree with, you can attract people to the idea of improving their communities and the world. This is one of the best ways to motivate your employees.
It also helps to acknowledge the good work your employees do. Recognition of a job well done goes a long way as well. This is because many people like to feel appreciated, and as though they are making a positive impact at the workplace.
If you can help your employees feel accomplished and important, that can be a bigger motivator than salary and benefits.
