I am often asked by small business owners what they can do to “motivate” their employees to perform better or to make them more loyal to the company. I have to be careful when answering this question, because most business owners either don’t like the answer, or want the answer to be much simpler.
The first thing every business owner/manager needs to understand is that employees are motivated by things that are important to them, not by things that are necessarily important to the business owner. The only thing that the business owner can do is to make sure that they create working conditions that allow employees to flourish. There is considerable research and volumes written on this topic, but here are some of the tried and true things business owners can do:
- Be very specific and very clear with your employees about what you expect and provide them with a way of knowing whether they are meeting your expectations or not. Employees want to know what performance (tasks, job duties, results, etc.) is being judged, and expects to know whether their performance is acceptable or not. Nothing will kill their motivation or loyalty faster than you being frustrated with them for not performing a job function or task that they didn’t know was expected of them, or doing it differently than you expected.
- Dedicate yourself to making their job easier. Many employees will tell you that it is hard to do their job. Company policies and procedures may make certain tasks unnecessarily difficult. This can include a myriad of issues, including changing priorities, frequent or unproductive meetings, changing computer applications, equipment that needs repair, or even a cluttered workspace. Work with your employees to identify what makes their job difficult, and remove those obstacles.
- Manage the right things. Small business owners do not have the time to manage every minute detail of their business, yet that is what many try to do. They get caught up in the how things get done instead of what things get done. This is an important point. If you find yourself managing how things get done, you are likely a micromanager and are probably driving your employees crazy! On the other hand, if you focus on managing what things need to be done – things tied to driving business results, you will be more future-focused, and giving your employees space to help decide how things should be done. This leads to more engaged employees and dramatically improved business results.
- Engage employees in decisions that impact them. Small businesses operate quite differently than large ones. Employees and owners often have more informal relationships than those that may exist in larger companies, and employees in smaller businesses may expect that owners will get their input about significant changes in the company, changes in their work responsibilities, or any other decision that impacts them directly, before those changes are put into place. Failure to do so can leave employees feeling that their opinions are not important and impact their loyalty to the company.
- Make it OK to make mistakes. Every business needs to be constantly improving and moving forward. Many times the most valuable ideas come from the employees. Create an environment where it is OK for employees to try new things or do things a different way, and assure them that there will be no consequences for things that do not go well or mistakes made along the way. This will increase their engagement and help them feel valued.
These first five tips should get you started. Look for the final five in the next installment of this article.