Making employees feel motivated and rewarded can be a very difficult task for a business owner or manager. Unmotivated employees do less work, may be unhappy with their jobs, and do lower quality work.
Read our previous blog => HOW TO CARVE A REWARDING CAREER
Many employers have taken to bringing in motivational speakers or holding motivational workshops to help get their employees motivated. Others institute some form of reward program to motivate people to do quality work. However, finding the best methods of motivating employees can be difficult. Horrible motivational workshops or speakers won’t help—in fact, it may make your employees feel as if they’re wasting time, which can cause job satisfaction and motivation to drop even more.
Here are a few ways to motivate and reward your team:
1. MAKE THE OFFICE ENVIRONMENT COMFORTABLE 
Nothing leaves employees feeling unappreciated or unmotivated more than a horrible work environment. If there’s a lot of stress and tension in the office, your employees are going to want to be anywhere but there. This may mean they take more and more personal days or actively begin searching for another job. There are a few different things you, as a manager, can do to keep the office environment friendly.
- Make certain the office is large enough. No one likes to be cramped or to trip over each other.
- Bring in fresh plants and make use of natural lighting. Keep the windows uncovered and do whatever you can to make the office look inviting, such as painting the walls something other than the dull grey that many offices use.
- Create a pleasant break room for employees to use as an escape from their desk during lunch or when on break.
- Keep the office thermostat set to a comfortable level. While you may not be able to please everyone, make certain the majority aren’t too hot or too cold.
2. REWARD EMPLOYEES BOTH AS A GROUP AND INDIVIDUALLY 
Telling your team “good job” on a regular basis is sure to help motivate them, but you also want to make certain that you call out individuals, as well. Let someone know when he or she went above and beyond. Also make certain that you acknowledge contributions made by everyone.
While this doesn’t necessarily mean saying something about every employee on every project, you should try to say something good about everyone on a fairly regular basis so employees don’t feel as if they’re being ignored or that you’re playing favorites.
Management should also reward the office with lunch or treats regularly. In fact, food can be a great motivator. Make sure to have some kind of dessert for each employee’s birthday, and you may even think about having lunch delivered once a month. Let employees know they’re free to bring snacks for the office if they want, and always keep the break room stocked with coffee or tea so there’s less time spent going out for drinks.
Make sure you always provide a healthy option, too, for employees who don’t want to eat a lot of sugar. If your employees seem to like certain restaurants or specific items more than others, make note to get those foods more often.
3. LEARN HOW TO MOTIVATE AND BE MOTIVATED
Some managers have unmotivated employees simply because they don’t know how to motivate them. This is where bringing in guest speakers can help. If you invite celebrity speakers to motivate employees, make certain you take notes on what they say and how they motivate people. You can then employ these techniques yourself. You might even ask the speaker for some one-on-one time if you have any questions.
You also need to be motivated yourself. A manager who doesn’t really care about his job or a project is going to subconsciously make that known, no matter how well he tries to fake it. Yes, there will always be projects that are fairly dull and uninteresting, but a good manager can point out to himself and his team how these projects fit into the bigger, more exciting picture.
4. CULTIVATE RELATIONSHIPS
It’s hard to be motivated to work for someone when that person doesn’t
make much of an effort to learn more than your name. While you may not want to socialize outside of the office with your employees, you should still get to know them. There are a number of different ways you can do this. Some managers like to invite an employee to have coffee or even lunch with them.
Every Friday, they chat with a different employee so they can get to know each other better. Make it a point to learn about their family and their interests. Remember, though, that you do have an employer/employee relationship—don’t let the conversation drift into anything inappropriate.
5. KEEP IT UP
Finally, remember that motivation doesn’t always last. Be sure to continue motivating and rewarding your employees.
This post originally appeared on Norah Abraham’s Page.
