Basic Principles to Motivate Employees

1. Motivating yourself will Motivate employees
Enthusiasm is contagious. If you enjoy your job, it helps others enjoy theirs too. If you do a good job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you will have much clearer perspective on how others are doing. You are setting an example for employees to follow.

2. Work to align goals of the organization with goals of employees
Frequent reviews and strategic goal setting sessions will help to ensure that company goals and personal goals are in alignment. Managers need to make the goals of the company very clear so an employee can be sure the goals they set will contribute to the success of the company. Employees will buy into the goals of the company when they are allowed to have input.  Goals should meet the SMART rule: Specific, Measureable, Action, Realistic and Time oriented.

3. Understand what motivates each employee
Start by evaluating what motivates you. A key to motivating others is knowing what inspires them. Everyone is not motivated by the same method. Some want recognition, others money, learning, spending time with family and etc. Is their job configured to motivate them properly? What can you do to better motivate yourself and others?

4. Recognize that supporting employee motivation is a process, not a task
People and organizations change all the time so it is important to continually look at what motivates you and the employees and to make sure the processes you have in place are still effective. It is an on-going process.

5. Support employee motivation by using organizational systems (for example, policies and procedures) — don’t just count on good intentions
Use reliable and comprehensive systems in the workplace to help motivate employees. Don’t just count on cultivating strong interpersonal relationships with employees to help motivate them. Use established compensation systems, employee performance systems, and organizational policies and procedures to support employee motivation.