The Importance of Employee Motivation to Your Bottom Line
Who works harder? The employee who has the potential to earn a promotion or bonus, or the employee whose best work goes unrecognized?
You could reason the employee who has the opportunity to gain a reward will be more motivated to perform better. The importance of employee motivation on work performance and productivity is immense.
Without incentives to work harder and achieve more, employees have little reason to do anything over the bare minimum. To succeed in business, you want employees who go above and beyond, who are excited and engaged in their roles. You want employees who embrace training opportunities, strive to enhance their skills, improve processes, and look for innovative ways to do better work.
Keep employee motivation high during training and watch performance rise.
How do you get employees to do this? The answer is to deploy the right motivators.
The importance of employee motivation to business performance
The importance of employee motivation cannot be overstated. Individual and collective motivation affects everything from performance to culture to the bottom line.
Of course you want to hire people who are self-driven and have a solid work ethic. But finding effective methods to keep motivation high is also critical.
Goal-oriented employees are more productive employees
If employees are working toward a goal, they are more likely to work harder and more efficiently.
Goals are important motivators because they foster productivity and help employees become more engaged in their day-to-day work. The process of outlining goals also helps employees understand the part they play in achieving the organization’s overall strategic objectives.
Setting goals produces clarity around the steps that are required to reach the desired outcome. For example, if an employee’s goal is to be promoted by the end of the year, they can identify what they need to do and a timeline to make it happen.
The importance of employee motivation is tied to an organization’s ability to meet its goals. Eventually, fulfilling individual goals leads to fulfilling team goals, which helps the entire organization stay on track.
High levels of motivation produce greater workforce stability
High levels of motivation increase workforce stability. Turnover is far less likely among a workforce that is driven, engaged, and enthusiastic about their work. These characteristics also promote a positive work culture.
On the other hand, employees who are just scraping by and don’t care about the success of the company will surely leave for the next better opportunity that comes along. The culture will be one that accepts half-baked efforts, mediocre work, and the status quo.
Motivation is contagious. Employees will be motivated to perform at the highest level each morning if they are surrounded by coworkers who believe in the company and the work they are doing.
Incentives: A little can go a long way
Incentives are powerful tools for fostering employee motivation. There is competing research on the effectiveness of financial incentives on employee engagement and productivity, with some studies finding it raises motivation, while others finding the opposite.
However, there are many types of incentives beyond money. The main goal is to figure out which are the most effective.
Every individual is motivated by something else. For some, monetary bonuses could work great. For others, it’s greater flexibility to work from home. Others may desire winning extra PTO. Some desire a promotion, while some just want verbal recognition for a job well done.
However you go about it, the point to take away is that employees want to feel valued. When you deliver their reward, be sure they know how important their work is to the success of the company.
Professional development is a major motivator
While monetary incentives are a welcome bonus of working hard, things like training and development opportunities can be equally or even more effective. Employees who feel stuck in their current roles with no opportunity to move up in the company will eventually become disengaged and less productive.
You don’t want employees getting bored and looking elsewhere for a challenge. It’s possible to avoid this by talking to them about their goals, helping them design a path to achieve them, and providing them with the resources to make it happen.
The importance of employee motivation is three-fold
The importance of employee motivation to the overall success of your business is huge. By implementing some of these tactics, you can reduce turnover, encourage engagement, and foster greater productivity.
Reduce turnover and boost employee engagement—instantly.