Employee motivation and retention

Tips on How to Motivate and Retain your Employees

May 13, 20247 min read

This is a final blog in the series regarding Attracting, Motivating and Retaining a High-Performance Team.

In today’s highly competitive job market it is essential that you consider the subject, or risk having a “second rate team” as against the “best team in town” that you really should aspire to if you are serious about growing and having a thriving profitable business.

So I offer some practical tips and insights to help motivate and retain your team, to align their aspirations with your business goals and vision, and ideally to provide a clear and interesting career path for your employees.

This is a longer blog than intended, but no apologies given the importance of the topic!

Understanding what Motivates your Team – What makes them Tick!

TIPS:

  • Recognize and value individual contributions by your staff members. Consider personalized awards.

  •  Encourage innovation and improved job satisfaction with more autonomy. Consider empowering staff to have more control over their tasks and the decision - making process.

  • Increasingly take steps to develop a positive workplace culture that promotes staff well-being. I recommend you read my separate blog “Cultivate a Healthy Culture to Help Grow your Business.”

  •  Regularly engage, individually and collectively with your staff in a frank “no fear” way to tease out any concerns and better still any suggestions.

Alignment: Employees Aspirations with Business Owners’ Vision and Goals

TIPS:

Company Vision and Goals

Regularly provide transparency on the Vision, Goals and Key Objectives for the business. Staff need to have an understanding on the direction of the company, including what is going well and what areas need to be addressed (including initiatives, strategy is being worked on). I recommend quarterly or minimum six-monthly company updates to ensure that staff understand the wider picture and see the value in their work, how and where they are contributing.

Consider how best to involve staff in setting company goals. They may not need to be involved in the detail as to the strategy, timing and priorities of how the goals will be achieved - but it is important to give them the opportunity to raise their voice and be heard regarding the higher-level goalsetting.

Provide continuous learning opportunities that support your business goals and objectives. For example, you may have identified that the company has a shortage of expertise in a certain area which needs to be plugged. Perhaps you can recruit or outsource , but also consider who may be best placed within your team to upskill and take ownership.

 Providing a Career Roadmap

TIPS:

  • Whilst challenging, work with your HR Manager (if you have one) and/or relevant managers to explore and design a transparent career paths for employees (particularly those that you have recognized as high potential, perhaps future leaders). Such career paths will help to reduce ambiguity and motivate your staff to stay for the long haul.

  • Consider mentorship programs where you can pair a member of staff or a manager with more experienced professionals from within the company or externally. Clearly this will encourage a culture of continuous learning.

  • Make sure you have documented Individual Development Plans. Diarize regular reviews and insist that identified training is actually undertaken and not brushed aside with an excuse that “I am too busy”.

  • Consider that there may well be a perception in your company that there are limited career opportunities. This may be ‘fact or fiction’ -  but it is going to reduce employee motivation to remain with your company if they are ambitious. To counteract this, consider being more creative, for example:

  • Introducing an internal mentorship program for your team members to gain new skills and insights.

  •   A job rotation scheme initiative to use your employees in various roles, broaden their experience ,and to keep their daily routines interesting.

  • Form cross departmental projects that involve team members from different departments - breaking down monotony but also encouraging collaboration and innovation with colleagues who staff members do not ordinarily interfaced with.

  • Recognize and reward non-traditional activity, for example an employee who leads an initiative that helps your company’s culture and/or community standing.

 All the above can help improve staff motivation and retention, despite apparent ceilings to a career path.

Additional Tips to Help Employee Retention

TIPS:

  • My previous blog “Playing with High Stakes – Are you Paying your Employees Enough” talked about staying abreast of relevant industry pay rates for your team members and not skimping!

  •  Of course money is not the only consideration for an employee, but it is usually very high if not top of the list.

  •  If you fail to meet expectations do not be surprised if your team members get ‘itchy feet’.

  •  Salary costs are likely to represent a high overhead, but do not be too tight, and look for efficiencies elsewhere if needed. You may even consider paying slightly higher than the industry norm to recognise the unique contributions of your team members!

  •  Seriously review both the signs and extent of “burnout”, and what steps can be taken to improve “work/life balance”.

  •  Keep your finger on the pulse and take key messages on board :periodically hold “stay interviews” with the fundamental question “what keeps you working for us and what might cause you to leave?”

  •  In a previous blog I have mentioned that Google and Xero in New Zealand are put forward as benchmark companies who provide on-site wellness programs, free meals and development programs. Check them out!.

  •  Interestingly, and as a challenge - I also want to mention that Netflix allows their employees to take as much time off as they deem is fit . Now that’s a radical thought! Reportedly, this approach - based on trust - has contributed to high employee satisfaction and productivity, and increased the Net Flix  reputation as a desirable place to work.

Encourage and Nurture a Sense of Belonging

TIPS:

  • Develop an inclusive culture and one that celebrates diversity.

  • Seek to develop teams that is based on a good mix of capabilities and personalities to encourage a sense of community and respect.

  • Regularly hold team get-togethers, teambuilding that is not solely work-related. Facilitate friendships/social connections.

Dealing with Burnout

TIPS:

staff and manager burnout

Previous blogs have raised a number of considerations, including:”

- Policies to encourage regular breaks in time off.

- Resourcing to offer mental health and well-being programs.

- Training managers to recognise signs of burnout.

- Keep a close eye out for signs of burnout, particularly:

Persistent tiredness and stress

Increased detachment from work, loss of interest, cynicism, apathy.

A reduction in work performance - missed deadlines, poorer quality, decreased productivity.

Increased illnesses, health complaints, sick days.

Social withdrawal.

Leverage Technology

TIPS:

  • Review what tasks can be automated by technology to improve efficiency and free up team members to focus on more important and interesting aspects of their jobs, for example:

  • AI to automate and sort emails into folders and even draft responses.

  • Project management software.

  • HR and payroll systems, like ADP automate payroll processing and tax compliance, thereby reducing paperwork and errors.

  • CRM’s like Salesforce

  • cloud-based services but data backups and synchronization.

  •  Use tools to support collaboration and communication - keeping everyone connected and “on the same page” - particularly for your remote teams or individuals. “Slack” has been around for a good while now but is a good example of a specialised communication tool that has a lot of benefits.

  • Leverage online learning opportunities.

Encourage Honest, Frank and Open Communication

TIPS:

  • Establish clear channels, make time and diarize regular engagement with your team at both an individual and group level.

  •  Capture the key points and take action to demonstrate that your team’s voice is listened to, and you are not simply playing lip service.

  • Advocate “no idea is a bad idea” and develop a culture of trust -  whereby individuals feel free to raise their views without fear of retribution should the comments run against the grain.

Final Words

Keeping your team in today’s climate is more than just paying  a competitive salary and benefits package.

I strongly urge you to take more of a holistic approach whereby you recognise and value the importance of your team members’  personal growth  and alignment with your business, and you encourage a positive culture.

You need an environment where your employees feel that they have a voice and opportunity to be listened to, they are valued, and they play an important role in the growth of your business.

If you consider these matters seriously, you will not only significantly increase the chances of keeping your key players. You will also benefit from improved innovation, productivity, growth and bottom-line profitability.

 

END

Neil Sayer


Motivate and RetainGrow your BusinessBusiness coaching
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Neil Sayer

Business Coach

Offering a track record of coaching & hands-on CEO leadership that results in serious growth & profitability for SME companies.

With 40+ years’ experience, I understand the essential elements that drive growth and bottom-line profitability; what works and what doesn’t.

  • CEO of 2 leading New Zealand SME’s - Glidepath and Stormwater360 - for 6 and 5 years’ respectively; leading both to record results.

  • Business Coach for 10 years working with a whole range of SME business owners.

  • 20+ years in a range of mid- management positions in the private and public sector - spanning business development, commercial management, sales &marketing.

  • International experience across Australasia, North & South America, Southeast Asia and the UK.

Education

BA Economics (Honours) - Manchester

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