Tips and Ideas for Motivating Employee Performance

1. Be open to ideas and suggestions. Any employee will tell you that s/he is much less likely to contribute an idea if it seems as if managers are unavailable or unwilling to accept suggestions. When you encourage employees to contribute, you make them feel as if they are a part of a decision-making process. When employees feel included in managers’ planning, they tend to take ownership of tasks and show increased initiative in finding ways to carry them out. On the other hand, a manager that gives the impression of being unavailable cannot expect to be effective in encouraging employees to grow their jobs.

2. Identify specific goals. Employees may not be aware of your long-term expectations of them. By identifying your goals, for both the employee and the team as a whole, you make your expectations clear and give employees a focal point for their efforts. Ask employees to discuss with you what they have done, or plan to do, to help your organization attain certain goals, and keep track of your plan.

3. Incentives: It’s Elementary. For an added incentive, try mapping out your goals step-by-step on a team chart, or create a list of goals for each team member (with an equitable distribution of work). Start with small goals and work up to larger ones. Establish time frames for each step and keep track of individual contributions to your goals. At the end of a specified time frame, reward the employee with the most quantitative contributions. In my office, we use a chart similar to a school-aged child’s list of chores, complete with star stickers for accomplishments. The staff member with the most stars at the end of a certain period of time receives a gift card to the store or restaurant of her choice.

4. Catch employees in the act. In the act of being productive, that is. Regularly vocalize your appreciation when an employee performs exceptionally well, even if it is a small task. For example: “John, I was really impressed with how you just handled that customer,” or “Sheila, I’ve noticed that I never have to follow up with you when I ask for something. I appreciate the way you manage your work.” Take this a step further, in the “elementary” direction, by creating a “caught in the act” raffle. Reward great performance by entering the employee in a monthly raffle. Prizes are up to you. There are many vendors, such as G. Neil and Accessories, that offer themed recognition notes and gifts just for this purpose.

5. Recognize problems early. While it may be tempting to wait until an employee’s performance becomes a “big deal” before addressing it, this is rarely an effective method of boosting performance. The first time you notice a decline in performance should be the first time you address it with the employee. This initial conversation should be a private, but casual discussion during which you give the employee an opportunity to voice his concerns. It should not be an angry reprimand. For example: “Bill, I’ve noticed that you have not been quite as thorough on your last couple of projects as you’ve been in the past. Is there something I can do to help?” Often, employees who feel overloaded or unhappy with their workload will show it in their performance without intending to do so. Facilitating a discussion about the employee’s work will both show him that you are taking notice and that you want to do your part in correcting any problems. Make sure, however, that the conversation stays focused on specifics and goals for improvement, and that the employee understands that the issue is about his performance and not the performance of others. Always bring the conversation back to the employee, while also avoiding an accusatory tone.

6. Change it up. Allow employees to cross-train with other employees whose jobs might be interesting to them. If you can do so without completely slowing down your teams’ production, change up your employees’ tasks periodically so that work does not become tedious. Boredom is a huge motivator – but not the kind of motivator you want. As with life, variety can be the “spice” of work, too!