More Than a Bit of Motivation Required

26 February 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

Launched by Argos last year, this year’s Employee Motivation Day followed a nationwide survey exploring motivation levels among the UK’s workforce and examining how various personality types take on very different roles.

Behind the idea is what should be a matter of common sense by management to their staff, i.e. their employees have specific skills set and form a vital part of a team in the workplace whether they are people-orientated, creative, questioning or prefer to work quietly and independently. They all deserve to be recognised for their continuous contribution to businesses that can thrive by encouraging a collaborative working environment which allows each personality type to have an impact.

Employee Motivation Day has four key criteria, some of which should be almost blindingly obvious:

1. Rewarding employees – whether this is with bonuses, pay rises, company benefits, shares, lunches or other perks, to keep people driven, energetic and enthusiastic about their work you must incentivise them and reward them for the work they’ve done, so they therefore continue!

2. Give credit where credit is due – recognition and praise helps employees feel appreciated and motivates them to want to please, accomplish and undertake the more challenging tasks to prove their worth and capabilities.

3. Encourage work–life balance – having a good home life, balanced with a healthy working life means staff are less susceptible to burnouts and stress and that attention is paid where due during office hours and as a result, the workforce will experience fewer health problems. Management should lead by example and exercise a steady balance so that workers can appreciate the importance of this.

4. Say thank you – showing a little appreciation towards your team will always go a long way; it will not only motivate but also keep productivity levels high as a result and employees eager to please and therefore succeed.

One participant in Employee Motivation Day was Bennett Hay which was recently named as one of the best places to work in hospitality by The Caterer magazine. It states that people engagement is ‘critical’ for the hospitality industry which has traditionally had a high staff turnover rate.

“Employee Motivation Day needs to be every day,” insists Anthony Bennett, Co-founder, Bennett Hay. “It is great to create a buzz on one day around the importance but employers need to play their key part of helping to motivate their workforce on a daily basis. Management needs to act on a person’s need to be recognised (on a personal, not monetary level) as important and valuable. Sharing profits is a reward as this is a good thing and will make employees financially satisfied but not necessarily motivated. Motivation goes deeper than this.”

Mr Hay argues that the key to motivating employees is finding the thing – or things – they are looking for in the employment relationship, e.g. title, income, respect, notoriety, flexibility, a sense of accomplishment, intellectual challenge. Aligning employer expectations with the receiving of rewards should then equal maximum productivity.

Picture: We’re all in this together is behind today’s Employee Motivation Day

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 26 February 2016