How to Promote Employee Motivation

In every modern and successful company, employee efficiency and performance are linked to motivation and engagement. In order to see and also implement motivational tools, it is necessary to understand the specifics of the job, place, or differences in the employee’s personality. Read more: Trends for Remote Work in the Global Labor Market.

A single motivation system is already slowly losing value, as it is important to pay attention to unique and special features. The most popular tools, such as bonuses, workplace cars, insurance, are external motivation tools, but they do not motivate employees internally.

What generally characterizes the motivating factors in the workplace? What could encourage employees to work with enthusiasm? Shine their eyes and get satisfaction from the work done?

The main aspects of motivation

Motivation is mainly related to – energy, ability, and willingness to invest in work 120% of oneself, also high quality of work, because the quality aspect is more important than quantity. Inspiration and involvement are mainly related to a person’s internal goals and driving aspects, the external environment can strengthen it and contribute to the improvement of productivity in the company.

David Rock, director of the NeuroLeadership Institute, has developed the SNAST model to explain aspects of motivation and combine theory with neuroscience. SNAST (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Commitment, Justice) is the basis for understanding how the brain responds to perceived threats and assessments from others.

Based on David Rock’s model, “work should not be seen as a business transaction where only work is done and paid, but as part of a social system in which the brain is remunerated based on the business environment, the employee’s need for status, certainty, autonomy, commitment, and justice. “

A noticed lack of employee motivation 

Lack of employee motivation may not always be noticed in communication and negotiation, but the manager or owner will notice it in the event of a fall in performance and financial performance, excessive staff delays, delays or omissions, or overall company stagnation. Read more: Motivation while Working from Home.

Such a situation cannot be ignored, because a motivated work team will promote a positive internal work environment, improve work productivity, efficiency, and company results. A comparison made by Gallup, which compared the companies with the employees involved and those not involved, concluded that the engaged employees:

• increased productivity by 17%;

• increased customer ratings by 10%;

• increased sales by 20%;

• increased profitability by 21%;
• reduced the number of delays by 41%

compared to non-corporate employees.

An employer or colleague can also be the one who addresses and is interested in the possible reasons for the decrease in motivation. Often, the people around you are best able to appreciate changes in each other’s mood on a daily basis, as well as lasting changes in each other’s character and attitudes in the workplace.

The main reasons for lack of motivation

• Too much work → burnout at work

In a situation when there are too many different jobs, responsibilities and it is impossible to take a breath, do everything gradually and in order, then the main idea in your head is – to be able to do it! Then inner inspiration, creative thinking, and zeal are completely suppressed. In order to sort out such a situation and free the mind for positive energy, it is necessary to take a break, look at everything from the sidelines, and set priorities so as not to despair!

• Too difficult to separate work from private life

Nowadays, when a large part of everyday life is the use of social networks, active involvement and increased use of the telephone, which is also necessary at work, often distracts and creates a desire not to do the assigned tasks or responsibilities. More info: Work-Life Balance When Working From Home.

”In 2020, the average time a person spends on social networks per day is 2 hours 24 minutes; if someone had recorded it at the age of 16 and lived to be 70, he would have dedicated 5.7 years of his life to it, ” referring to the statistics.

Not only can social networks be more distracting, but also constant calls, messages from friends or family. In this way, productivity decreases, the focus of attention decreases and internal motivation disappears, because thoughts prevent something else.

One of the methods is not to use the Internet on the phone during work, so that there is no desire to watch social networks and dispel thoughts, thus only using the phone for communication for work purposes, using the resources available on the computer.

• Emotional fatigue or pressure

If every day, at work, the feeling that nothing has the strength and desire to get involved in the work, or if the manager, the manager receives constant reprimands, it completely destroys work efficiency and the employee’s positive energy in the workplace.

No matter how difficult it is, you should be able to vent your gloom from your thoughts after work or on holidays, doing things that inspire, because in this way you can recharge your inner energy for a new act of work.

In fact, surveys revealed that “employee well-being and a positive mood increased productivity at work by about 12%.” That is why on holidays it is important to devote full time to improving your mental and physical well-being, because good rest allows the brain to work with new strength during work.

Loss of attention

This is one of the main reasons for the lack of motivation, which includes the reasons mentioned above, as the focus of attention may decrease due to overload, as a result of emotional pressure, as well as distractions from outside work privacy factors. To maintain focus, you need to be able to maintain interest and enthusiasm. Neuroscience research shows that human intrinsic motivation is based on an ancient mammalian system focused on research and interest. Neuroimaging studies, which have so far focused on curiosity and mastery, indicate that internally motivated states are subjected to neuronal regions, possible dynamic switching between large-scale brain networks related to attention, attention control, and self-referenced cognition.

The decline in the focus of attention may be related to the performance of many tasks at the same time, because a few years ago, the way of organizing work, when many tasks are performed simultaneously, was popularized. It hinders productivity and reduces intelligence:

“In one study, an awareness test was performed on both employees who focused on a single task and employees who performed multiple tasks simultaneously. Employees who performed many tasks received a score 11% lower than those who focused on one task. Second, multitaskers’ ability to focus decreased by 17%.”

There is a possibility that the employee is motivated, but external conditions do not promote its progress and manifestation, so it is important to be aware of everyone’s strengths, personality traits and how to promote the employee’s willingness and enthusiasm to work.

Motivating different personalities in the work environment

In order to involve and motivate employees in the work environment, it is necessary to observe and get to know your work team better. Regardless of the size of the team, there is someone in the company who is good at organizing work, who comes up with new and creative ideas or solutions, who always does everything at the time, who undertakes the presentation in front of the audience.

• Employees who are more introverted – independently perform their work, does it diligently, communicates less with others or less suggests, but is happy to take on additional responsibilities.

Nikola Tesla, an outstanding inventor, engineer, and also introverted personality, explains: “Originality flourishes in isolation without external influences that tend to interfere with the creative mind. Be one – this is the secret of an invention: be one when good ideas are born.”

How to motivate? It is advisable to focus on finding and promoting intrinsic motivation, as it is related to the tendency to seek new ideas, expand and use one’s abilities, explore and learn. It has been proved that people’s inner desire and direction helps to get involved in an activity because they find it interesting and satisfying in nature. 

• One-on-one meetings/discussions to reveal personal views on specific issues;
• Take time to prevent, get used to the new situation or environment;
• Allow you to focus on specific tasks by developing and using the employee’s strengths.

How to find this out? It can be assessed by the other’s behavior, free and open conversations about the actions taken, questionnaires can be used to check the reasons for a person’s involvement and to get feedback.

What affects it? Studies have shown that, although intrinsic motivation is psychological growth over a lifetime, it is by no means automatic, as it depends primarily on competence and autonomy (feelings of will).

• Employees who are more extroverted – confident in communicating with others, have good presentation skills, communicates with a wide range of people, generate new ideas, and are involved in changing the internal environment of work. Although extroverts have the enthusiasm and external energy, the views and presence of introverted employees in the room cannot be completely suppressed, as a result of which other employees are not so actively involved, thus forcing the whole team to miss their ideas.

How to motivate? An extrovert is helped by external motivation, as it is more important for such employees to be remunerated, to avoid punishment, or to achieve a valuable result. The first evidence of this type of separation came from experimental studies, which showed that tangible rewards can reduce intrinsic motivation.

• Praise and support enthusiasm;
• Offer projects/tasks where new and fresh ideas are needed;
• Clearly express an opinion and position on the work done, ideas.

The fact that an employee has, for example, more introverted features does not mean that the person is antisocial or that the extrovert is not able to work independently. It is important to understand that introversion and extroversion refer to how energy usually flows inwards or outwards.

Work environment as an influencing factor for motivation

The internal work environment directly affects the well-being of employees at work, respectively reducing or increasing work productivity, efficiency, communication, positive energy, as well as employee motivation and involvement in work processes. Read more: What is a Good Workplace? An orderly work environment will also increase the appearance and retention of good employees in the company, thus creating connected objects, because the company is interested in attracting or retaining good employees, while the environment is important for employees. A company can be relatively small, but visually pleasing, and in the case of a large company, spacious premises can play a major role in creating employee well-being.

What should be the working conditions for the well-being of employees?

• Favorable and comfortable – promotes employee enthusiasm, as well as a positive mood, and improves productivity.

• Arranged to work needs –  so that the employee, when performing daily activities, can focus his attention on the performance of the necessary work.
• Contributing – providing comfort, safety, employees are happy to stay in work premises and work. A supportive work environment also includes a seating area or space where employees can relax, take new ideas, and communicate with colleagues in a pleasant atmosphere during lunch breaks or breaks.

An inadequate work environment leads to employee dissatisfaction, which in turn will affect employee performance, which can affect productivity.

For example, it is important to pay attention to the cleanliness, order, colors, light, and also the temperature in the workrooms. CareerBuilder study found that “53% of employees surveyed are less productive if their workplace is too cold.”

To find out your opinion about the working environment, whether the employees are satisfied with everything or would like to change something, you can conduct an online survey that will take a few minutes!

A single formula for employee motivation?

There are key principles underlying people’s internal and external motivation, but it is difficult to define a universal formula for all. It is desirable to choose motivational tools, evaluating the individual characteristics of the work team, improving the overall work environment, and eliminating factors that contribute to the lack of motivation and hinder full involvement in the work process.