Employee Motivation: Why it’s About More than Money
Unlike machines, human beings are emotional creatures who fuel their creativity, insights, and best work efforts with their feelings. Much like an athlete who is motivated and ready to win the game, a motivated employee is going to be more satisfied and happy at work, feel closer to their peers and the company, and be healthier overall.
Employee Motivation Increases Job Satisfaction
One of the first things you would notice walking into a motivated workplace is the sense of pride and involvement employees feel towards their positions. By feeling that they have a useful role to contribute to a process or project larger than themselves, employees feel a greater sense of accomplishment.
This becomes especially important on larger operations and ventures as a lower level employee or even an upper level, process-oriented technical expert might not easily grasp what their value is in the company, and might not even see how their contributions propel the company forward. These individuals should be reminded of their value and given recognition and rewards to help them stay motivated in their position.
Creating a Professional Family through Proper Motivation
What is a professional family? When a company or organization works so well together that they develop their own rapport and chemistry, it becomes more like a family than a group of colleagues. Motivated employees have a more enjoyable time at work and are more likely to get along with their peers when they are excited to come into work in the morning rather than dreading their job.
When you’re hiring, it’s important to not only look at technical skill but also assess how this person might fit into your corporate culture. Sometimes identifying someone’s true personality can be difficult in a formal interview process. However, talent assessment tools like our Workstyle and Performance Profile can help employers look at someone’s ‘default’ settings by assessing various personality traits. This gives you an unbiased look into how they might be the right personality fit for you.
Employee Motivation Affects Workplace Health
One of the easiest ways to gauge the overall employee motivation of a workplace is to see how many people call in or show up sick. Yes, illness is perfectly natural, but when employees are unhappy and disinterested at work, absenteeism will be a constant thing.
A motivated workplace in comparison often takes advantage of the healthy environment they set up by offering gym facilities and health services as well. In a vibrant workplace that rewards employees, and focuses on aspects such as work/life balance and even fitness, you will find happier, healthier employees.
Hopefully this demonstrates the tremendous value of keeping the workplace filled with enthusiasm and rewarding the hard working go-getters in the company to create a feeling of progression and purpose in employees’ individual careers.