Behavioral science suggests that motivation can stimulate a person's drive, creating an inner desire for success and encouraging continuous effort toward desired goals. However, managers should be clear about which aspects of employee behavior they aim to motivate — whether it is reducing costs, accelerating project timelines, or enhancing customer satisfaction. Once the goal is determined, employees can be motivated using the following methods:
1. Provide employees with challenging work. Routine tasks are most likely to wear down morale. To elicit energized performances from employees, their work must be challenging. Managers should guide employees in growing through their work and provide them with opportunities to learn new skills.
2. Ensure employees have access to the appropriate tools to perform their best. Companies that invest in leadership technologies generally boost employee morale. Having access to the latest tools in the industry makes employees proud, and if they can proudly talk about their work, this pride inherently carries significant motivational value.
3. During the implementation of projects or tasks, managers should provide employees with information to help them excel in their work. This information includes the company’s overall objectives, the specific responsibilities of specialized departments, and the precise issues that individual employees need to focus on.
4. Employees who do the actual work are experts in their field. Therefore, managers must listen to employee opinions and invite them to participate in decisions related to their work. Honest communication not only makes employees feel like part of the operation but also helps them understand business strategies. If such open communication and two-way information sharing become an integral part of the operational process, the motivational effect becomes even more apparent.
5. Establish channels that facilitate communication across all levels. Employees should be able to use these channels to ask questions, express concerns, or obtain answers to their inquiries. Companies encourage open dialogue through various means, such as employee hotlines, suggestion boxes, group discussions, and Q&A sessions hosted by managers.
6. Managers should maintain regular contact with employees. Scholar Glaman stated: "By chatting casually with you, I am investing my most precious asset: time. This highlights the importance of our relationship and shows how much I care about your work."
7. Understand the practical difficulties and personal needs of employees and strive to meet them. This significantly boosts employee enthusiasm. Examples include arranging childcare within the company or adopting flexible working hours.
8. Promote employees based on their job performance. Promoting solely based on seniority does not encourage employees to strive for excellence and instead fosters an attitude of passive waiting.
9. Develop a comprehensive set of standards for promoting employees internally. Employees have many aspirations and capabilities they wish to fulfill in their careers. The number of opportunities provided by the company to achieve these goals will influence how employees evaluate the company's investment in them.
10. Emphasize the company's willingness to retain employees long-term. Employees should be made aware that job security ultimately depends on themselves, but the company will make every effort to ensure long-term employment.
11. Employee salaries must be competitive. Salaries should be determined based on the employee's value. When employees feel their compensation is fair and reasonable, they won’t solely focus on their paycheck, benefiting the company greatly.
12. Seek their help. For leaders, seeking assistance from other employees may be one of the most effective ways to make them realize their own abilities and value. Why is this? The key lies in the fact that asking for help makes us vulnerable—it indicates we have weaknesses or lack necessary skills. Seeking help from employees not only demonstrates respect for their professional expertise but also shows absolute trust from the leader.
13. Ask for their opinions. Similarly, ensure the content is unrelated to their job responsibilities. Instead of asking typical questions like, "What ideas do you have for improving work efficiency?" consider utilizing their skills or insights through other means.
14. Grant them informal leadership roles. For leaders, granting employees informal leadership over temporary teams brings significant benefits. It signifies trust in their skills and judgment. More important tasks and higher implied praise can greatly enhance their self-esteem.
15. Collaborate on tasks. For bosses, there is a natural inequality between them and employees. An effective way to uncover employee value (especially unique value to the company) is through joint collaboration to complete tasks together.
Of course, the projects chosen by the leader do not necessarily need to be outside of work. The key is that the activity should involve equal participation without distinctions between boss and employee. After all, inequality leads to disengagement, while equality means overall improvement.
16. Learn from the Price Line Company approach. After completing outstanding work, leaders should congratulate the relevant employees and let them choose their "reward." Leaders might say, "You've done an excellent job. What can I do to show the company's appreciation?" Leaders may be surprised at how simple the rewards chosen by employees can be.
17. A company atmosphere reminiscent of a community indicates that the company has made every effort to establish an organizational structure where everyone feels they contribute. Backstabbing, office politics, and low morale can drain even the most ambitious individuals of energy.
In essence, motivating employees boils down to respecting them—this is what employees truly need.