After a long, hard day at work, the prospect of doing it all again can be daunting. When the expectations of your company are high, it can cause your team anxiety and burnout because they want to do their best.
“Maintaining employee motivation when expectations are high is an extremely challenging thing to do,” says Michael Olguin, contributor to Inc.
He offers some suggestions to help lead your team back to balance, clarity, and renewed energy.
Challenge Employees
Work needs to stimulate your employee’s intellect. They want to learn and have daily successes so goals need to be tough, yet attainable. Olguin says it’s important to challenge your employees to analyze their job and the company overall and encourage them to intellectually improve the organization through greater efficiencies, processes, or service offerings. “When individuals feel like their intellectual contributions are being realized, they are more invested in the company and committed to their jobs,” he says.
Offer Opportunities
Olguin says one of the best things you can do as a leader is to continuously offer your employees opportunities to take on new responsibilities, challenges, or projects. This will validate your confidence in them and provides them with experience in areas they may never have had a chance to face.
Give Constructive Feedback
It’s never comfortable to communicate to an employee on how they can improve, but constructive feedback can motivate employees to want to improve. When criticism is handled with finesse, it can promote growth and improvement.
Encourage Breaks
Encourage your employees to step away from their desk or work environment, even if for just a few minutes.
“Fresh air, sunshine, and idle chatter about anything other than work can be incredibly valuable in invigorating employees, which will ultimately ensure better quality work,” says Olguin.
Work Smarter, Not Longer
Train your employees on time management skills so they can better manage their days. Longer time in the office could demotivate employees. They may feel like they don’t have a life other than work. Employees need to have a balance between their personal and professional lives.
A lack of motivation on the job is a common problem. It can lead to dissatisfaction and even greater unhappiness. There are many reasons employees suffer from a lack of motivation: Maybe they had a long day on the job, their work doesn’t challenge them, they aren’t in their dream job, or it’s hard to get passionate about the work. Whatever the reason, as leaders, we need to find ways to motivate our team and renew their energy.
How do you motivate your employees?
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