ON A BUDGET: Motivating your team, bolstering loyalty & elevating morale. – Helping people to understand the importance of their role. (Series: Part 3 of 5)
(Photo: ralphbijker)
Times are tough right now. Raises are not being doled out, salary’s are being cut, 401K’s are not being matched, people are losing their jobs…morale is low. Many managers may not be concerned if their remaining employees are unhappy; where do they think they are going to go in this economic environment? Don’t be short sighted; employees who are not happy are looking elsewhere and when the climate turns many will abandon ship. Now is the time to keep your employees exhilarated!
“So what can you do to motivate a team and create loyal employees when morale is low?”
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In this economy it’s imperative employers concentrate on non-monetary motivating factors by:
- Taking a genuine interest in people
- Keeping an open line of communication
- Helping people to understand the importance of their role
- Bestowing recognition on your team
- Cultivating career development plans
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3. Helping people to understand the importance of their role.
People like to feel needed, so helping people understand their contribution to the corporation and showing them their efforts DO make a difference will increase their morale. It is important for people to understand how each gear turns to keep the machine operating effectively. They need to understand the part they play in the overall corporate structure and the flow of the business.
Take a particular function in your business as an example:
- Where was it generated what is the intended outcome?
- What path had the process taken before it reached your team?
- Where did it go afterward?
- What was the result and how did it contribute to the goals of the company?
It is important to illustrate this so people understand their role is not idle and without function.
Another way to generate a feeling of contribution to the company is to delegate authority. Delegate authority by:
- Encouraging people to take on additional responsibilities
- Aligning them with the company goals
- Letting them take ownership of certain processes.
This increase in leadership responsibilities will build the bench strength of your team and increase fellowship amongst employees. Furthermore take the time to publicly recognize them and convey how their initiatives helped the company and/or the customer. Better yet invite the customer to take the time to provide a public testimonial of the employees efforts. This kind of respect in a timely manner will go a long way with your team.
Remote Note:
When your team is part of a remote workforce it can be especially challenging for them to understand the role they play in the company and the path processes take from inception to fruition. By illustrating to your team the route a business process takes whether it is through a slide presentation or work flow chart it helps them understand the function of their position and how they can affect the overall process.
In addition, it is important for the remote work force to understand the appropriate contacts for varied situations they encounter in their day to day. This will help them know where to go for answers when a problem arises.
Help your team to understand their overall role in the company and build bench strength through delegation.
-What are you doing to build the bench strength of your workforce? Please leave a comment and let us know.
-How do you communicate workflows and processes within your group? Please leave a comment and let us know.
~Check back daily for the additional series segments.~
