Having employees that are inspired and motivated is crucial to the success of your business. The ability to encourage employees and give them the tools they need to be excellent is a skill that must be learned over time. “Inspire Employee to Excellence Day” is the perfect day to practice your skills as a leader and motivator.
A common management assumption is the belief that most employees show up for work only because they have to, not because they want to; therefore, supervisors have to force or coax employees to get work completed. As it turns out, the opposite is true. A study about some of the most profitable and successful companies in the world show that nurturing high employee morale and constant innovation are the keys to success.
Inspire Employees to Excellence Day is celebrated on February 1st. Employers should use this day as a kick off efforts to build an effective team of employees who are excited to be at work. There are several ways for leaders to foster an environment that inspires excellence.
Listen Up!
Employees who report that their opinion and ideas matter to their employer also confirm higher levels of engagement and satisfaction at work. In order to inspire great work, you need to know what your employees need. Your staff’s concerns, thoughts, and ideas are just as important as those of the customer. So take the time to listen!
Try conducting an Employee Engagement Survey to find out how your employees feel about their workplace and its vision, mission, and values. Schedule regular staff meetings and discuss the workplace with team members. Give everyone the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas. By creating an environment where your employee’s voices are heard, you are making the workplace feel more open and comfortable. This directly effects engagement rates and gives people a reason to raise their standards of performance.
Motivate through Recognition
Motivated employees deliver exceptional individual performances and stellar group productivity. Motivated employees also stay longer with the company. How often you do hear about a team member doing an excellent job and make a point of recognizing? Recognition that comes from a supervisory or executive role makes employees feel valued. The next time an employee does an exceptional job putting together a presentation or completes a task that has a huge impact on the rest of the company, take time to recognize the individual. This can be as simple as a quick phone call or an appreciative email and CC-ing the employee’s supervisor. Other ways to recognize an outstanding job include taking the employee to lunch or honoring the entire department’s contribution with a special luncheon. Recognize your entire workforce by planning an event where the whole team has the opportunity to relax and enjoy each other’s company, snacks, and team-building games. Fun is a great way to re-energize and motivate your employees.
Incentives and Rewards
Another proven strategy to inspire your employees is through the incorporation of incentives. Cash rewards may sound like great motivators, but there is zero trophy value in them. Tangible, non-cash awards in fact are one of the most effective ways to drive performance in the workplace. It’s all about the experience and when individuals participate in a recognition or incentive program, they are given points for performance and workplace engagement. Employees can then redeem their points for whatever product they desire. Having a tangible reward that they can use, wear, or watch helps to remind them of how hard they worked to achieve their goals while also making them feel appreciated for the job well done. Both these things can motivate employees to working harder to achieve the next level of recognition.
Non-monetary rewards such as merchandise redeemed from a loyalty program can play a significant role on your employee’s behavior. Compared to cash, whose sentimental value vanishes as soon as that check is deposited, merchandise or other non-monetary rewards work toward providing you with an experience or a product you will utilize and appreciate for years to come.
Levy Recognition is a recognition solutions and custom awards provider. We specialize in creating employee recognition programs for corporations in a wide variety of industries. We offer fully customizable platforms with simple administration. Inspire your employees to excellence with a recognition program that offers an exceptional participant experience that consistently surpasses the expectations of you and your employees.