Employee Motivation - What Really Engages Your Workforce?

[caption id="attachment_5891" align="alignright" width="280"] What Motivates Your Employees?[/caption] Are you frustrated by the notion that your workplace is not doing enough to drive employee engagement? It seems as if employees can be a finicky bunch. One day things are going great and the next, well they are grumbling and not being as productive as you’d like them to be. What gives? The most recent Gallup workforce data shows that at any given time, around 13 to 17 percent of the workforce is actively disengaged from their work. This is highly damaging to companies for a number of reasons, including:

• Poor productivity levels
• Negative attitudes and behaviors
• Tardiness and attendance issues
• Inability to retain a strong workforce

The burning question in most company leaders’ minds is what actually engages and motivates employees? Is there some kind of magic that happens, or is there a clear strategy that any company can use? In this article, we will get down to the heart of employee engagement to uncover ways that any organization can boost employee motivation and morale.

What Workplace Factors Motivate Employees

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) 2015 Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report, there are some factors that lead to greater employee engagement and happiness, which are:

• Respectful treatment of all employees by others at all levels – 72 percent of employees polled stated that this was the number one reason why they felt engaged and motivated at work.
• Trust between employees and senior management – 64 percent of the employees polled in the SHRM survey said that this is an important contributor to overall job satisfaction.

But these are just on the surface issues that can be corrected with a concerted effort. It goes much deeper than this. Jacob Morgan, a contributor at Forbes mentioned that the greatest cause of employee disengagement is that, “Many companies still operate as though employees are expendable, assume that managers are powerful leaders who should control all the information and remain stoic, and that there needs to be a bureaucratic ‘pecking order’ to how things get done.” He points out that organizations are far behind in terms of how they treat employees and how they deserve to be treated, making the point that, “We live in 2014, but work in 1970.”

Inspiring The Workforce

In order to motivate and inspire our workers, we first need to figure out what gets them excited about their work and the companies they work for. Here are some things to consider:

• Are you listening to your employees? When employees feel as if their ideas and opinions matter to the management team, they become active participants in reaching corporate goals, instead of feeling like another “cog in the wheel”.
• Do you measure employee engagement levels? With today’s advancements in real-time employee engagement reporting, it’s possible to see the direct results of engagement campaigns. There is no more guessing game.
• Can employees make an impact on their work lives? If you have employees who want to improve things and become more efficient, is this supported by your management team? It should be.

Looking for ideas to motivate and engage your workforce? Please take the time to view the Thymometrics Employee Motivation page, and watch a cool video on this topic, and read through our list of key drivers of employee motivation. Then, get in touch with us to learn how we can support greater employee engagement in your workplace.

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Get in contact with Thymometrics to discuss how we can help you with your employee motivation challenges. Email info@thymometrics.com, call +1 646 760 9323 (US) or +44 (0) 1223 750 251 (Europe) or visit thymometrics.com.