Monetary rewards are not as motivational in the long run as letting someone know they’re doing a great job. Here are a few simple, free ways to motivate your employees:
Allow Them More Autonomy
Allowing employees to make more decisions on their own motivates them to be more responsible. Also, when employees are working towards a goal they set themselves, they are more motivated because they want to prove that they can do what they set out to accomplish.
Celebrate Their Successes
When you celebrate your employees’ successes, it makes them feel good about the work that they have done and they will be more motivated to continue. Celebrating successes doesn’t have to extravagant either, simply calling someone out in a team meeting for doing something well can be more than enough motivation for your employees.
Get to Know Your Employees
You want to keep the workplace professional, however, treating employees like they’re simply placeholders in your team won’t encourage them to do more for the team. Getting to know just enough about all of your employees to be able to connect with them on a more personal level will humanize you and allow them to feel more like they belong in the team.
Encourage Friendly Competition
Allowing your employees to have a little friendly competition here and there will motivate them to do better, as they are no longer just competing against themselves, but someone else. However, it is important to not let things get too out of hand, as competition can easily go from friendly to negative very fast. Make sure to always keep competition professional, and it will be a great motivator for employees.