Employee Wellbeing
November 3, 2022

A guide to motivational techniques at work

Feeling that your daily pep talks aren’t having the same effect on the motivation of your team? If you’re struggling to inspire your team, follow this essential guide of our five top tips on how to motivate your team.

Alanah Hammond
5 minutes

In any work setting, teamwork is essential. A great team creates a positive working environment and empowers workers to achieve their own goals. This teamwork, however, is only successful if each member of a team is motivated to do their job. 

Any worker who is leading a team may know that one of the most important parts of their job is to motivate them. A motivated team creates the best results for a company because members are more productive and go above and beyond. 

You may wonder what it is that spurs them on, and it’s simple. They are passionate about their work and want to produce the best results they can.

Working in an environment where every team member is inspired by what they do every day is certainly something every company should strive for. As a leader, how do you motivate your team to feel exactly this? Here are our five strategies to help inspire your employees.

Praising achievement big and small

An environment which recognises hard work inspires other workers to also go the extra mile and not hold back. It is certainly important, however, to praise accomplishments both big and small as often the mini-milestones add up and produce fantastic results.

Marcus Axelson, Head of Sales at Myles Wellbeing, believes that celebrating the accomplishments of your teammates are key to motivating employees. Marcus said, “I am certainly motivated by other people’s success. When you have a good team around you, it inspires you to be better in your role”. 

Assessing achievements is also very beneficial to any employer. If a smaller milestone took longer than expected, communicate with your employee to see if there were any problems. Not only will your employee feel valued, especially if it is a smaller issue, but you can both work out a solution, creating, in the long-run, what Marcus describes as a “better team around you”.

Manageable goals

Setting goals which have purpose is definitely key to motivating any employee. Not only does it give a worker a manageable to-do list, but ensures that all workers are on the same page.  

Toby Cannon, as CEO and co-founder of Myles Wellbeing, has to ensure his employees are motivated. He certainly praises the wonders of goal-making, stating: “Teams can only be motivated by a goal if they know what the goal is. I think it’s super important to have extreme clarity on what you’re working towards as a team and why”.

But just how do you set manageable goals? Marcus, Head of Sales, described one way he achieves this with his sales teams: “I like to do a morning meeting and identify three wins you want to achieve on that day, and also how you’re going to do it”. 

This way, you can get the satisfaction of ticking off tasks on a to-do list, but it also keeps you on track, showing what you have done for a day. 

Take care of your team

In an age where more employees are working remotely, looking after your team is evermore important. Ensuring workers are looked after will motivate them to work hard as they will feel genuinely cared about, and so will want what’s best for the company.

Offer flexible working hours

Recent data released showed that in 2022, around 4.27 million employees in the United Kingdom had contracts which allowed flexible working hours. This makes flexible working the most common working practice in that year. It’s so popular as it allows employees to find a way that works best for them, allowing them to be most productive and motivated.

Check up on employees

Whether working remotely or not, check up on your team. Drop them a message, video-call or meet them for lunch. Forming genuine bonds between employer and employee will create a really motivated team as they will want to do what’s best for the company. 

Be understanding 

We all have busy lives and sometimes our outside commitments clash with our work. As an employer, offer employees time off for appointments, childcare or sickness, as well as offering breaks for wellbeing, such as a walk for a screen-break. If employees feel looked after they will simultaneously work harder for a company they feel positive about. 

Create a great working environment 

A holistic approach must be taken when creating a great working environment. The little things certainly add up, so here’s a few smaller actions which create the bigger picture of a motivated team:

Rewards

From saying well done to providing monetary rewards, when members of staff can see the results of their hard work, they are motivated to work harder to achieve better rewards. It’s important, however, that rewards are given to goals which don’t seem too far out of reach because employees who fail to achieve them (such as internal promotions, pay-rise or bonuses) can have a negative impact on morale and the working environment. 

Constructive feedback

Encouragement is great, but sometimes feedback is better. Constructive feedback is the best, as it gives employees something to work on which isn’t just critical. Not only does constructive feedback show you care about improving the technique of your employees but it will create a better working environment if a worker feels as if they have improved. 

Good management 

Strong management is essential to motivating any team. If an employee gets along with their manager or leader, they want to do well in their job for them. Forming great working relationships early on is also really beneficial when motivating a team. 

For example, offering mentorship programmes or supervisors for junior team members with more experienced employees, creates a great working environment. All employees share tips, improving workers, whilst forming close bonds across departments and staff. These close relationships stay strong through each other’s motivation to do what’s best for their company.

Follow through on promises 

Employees will be motivated if there is transparency throughout the company. Making promises are really beneficial, but be mindful of what you do say as actually following through on your word really motivates employees. 

Being aware of this accountability is also key. As Toby, Co-founder and CEO of Myles Wellbeing, states: “Once I’ve made a commitment to others, the social accountability really drives me”. Essentially, by carrying out your promises, you create a trusting and motivating environment.

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