INNERGISE!

There is a direct correlation between how motivated your staff are to stay with you and how generous you are. Fortunately, if you’re smart, your generosity doesn’t have to cost you anything!

Give them some time

Before you can truly motivate someone, you need to know what motivates them. This takes time and effort on a manager’s behalf, but the reward is immeasurable. Get them to complete a personality profile, send out a company-wide motivation survey, ask their colleagues and associates, or even better, go out of your way and ask them yourself!

Give them some vision

If I don’t know where I am going, how do I know if I’ve got there? In fact, how do I even know if I’m in the right direction in the first place?! Ask them individually if they know what the vision of the business is – you’ll be surprised at some of answers we hear from people! If their answers are different, or you don’t really have a vision in the first place, then create one, making sure it is believable yet compelling. And don’t forget to tell them what it is!

Give them some purpose

Now you have a vision, outline what their role is in that vision. If they do their job successfully, what does that mean for the company? Enable them to wake up each morning believing they have a real purpose in what they do at work, and that it makes a tangible difference. Otherwise, why would you bother?

Give them some freedom

Your staff want to grow and develop. However, we are often afraid of handing over tasks to them in case they get it wrong and so we limit their freedom, which in turn will limit their opportunity to grow. Just think about how many new ideas are being held back by managers who are afraid to let go.

Give them some inspiration

Think of a person who inspires you. Anyone at all. What is it about that person that inspires you? What does that inspiration make you want to do? Now imagine your staff being asked that question about you, what would they say? Every day, do at least one thing (it doesn’t have to be new) that inspires your staff, and watch the results.

Give them some consistency

Everyone is different. Every day is different. We need to stretch and transform and re-channel and adjust everything we do so we can ensure that everyone is treated fairly and equitably, every day. Maintaining that consistency across all of your staff will keep the idle gossip, the de-motivators and even more significantly, the tribunals at bay!

Give them some opportunity

Many of the staff we interview have long-term personal ambitions, and whether we choose to believe it or not, they may not always involve you! Talk to them about them, accept them and then help them to achieve them. You’ll immediately gain their loyalty, and in most cases, far higher levels of retention. If your staff turnover currently averages at around 2 years, then why not create 4 year development plans with each of your staff, which will both help them and give them more reason to stay with you for the full 4 years.

Give them some recognition

Every day in your office, someone in your team will do something good. Something that is worthwhile recognising. It could have been a difficult customer they managed to appease, or a confused colleague they supported, or a proposal they submitted. Recognise it by talking about it, publicly. They’ll then want to do it again, and even better, those who were told about it might even try it for themselves.

Give them some composure

Many people tend to run away from stress whenever possible. It is draining, demoralising and unproductive. On the other hand, people congregate around people who can remain composed and unruffled when under pressure. Look at your current management team and ask yourself, how do they respond to stress? What impact does that have on their staff?

Give them some fun

There are 24 hours in a day. Typically we sleep for 8 of those, spend another 8 hours with friends and family, and the other 8 hours at work (in some cases much more!). That’s surely reason enough to want to make work a bit of fun! Furthermore, the more fun people have, the more enthused they will be, the more motivated they will be and the more effective they will consequently be at doing their jobs.