To unlock employee motivation, you may need to change how you communicate special requests. These are things like important changes to operating processes or customer service procedures.
You need people to embrace a different way of doing things. It has to be done right and it needs to be executed right away.
But you notice people are slow to change and constant reminders are not breaking old habits. Restating the request or even raising your voice does not seem to help.
In these cases, often people are missing a key piece of employee motivation. Use these tips to improve your messaging.
People Sacrifice for Perceived Benefits
While the situation has improved in recent years, in the past if you went to an airport, you’d see people happily sitting on the floor. As you know, airports are not the cleanest places.
You’d see people on the floor, even when there were perfectly good and empty chairs nearby. Why would people sit on a floor that is likely very dirty?
For them, there is a perceived value in having easy access to a wall outlet, which allows them to charge mobile devices. Free and accessible electricity, even when it means sitting on the floor, is worth pursuing. It’s a good trade in their minds.
If you’re asking employees to make some kind of sacrifice, you’ll likely receive more buy-in if people understand the perceived value or benefit of the change.
Tie a Goal to an Outcome
If a business needs to get more done, then dangle some kind of reward as a goal. Companies have done this for years with things like casual Fridays. Now, it could involve extra days, when people could choose to work from home.
While many teams don’t get excited about having to chase a goal that involves more work, they may love the reward that comes with it.
Overall, the perk costs the business very, little yet serves as a bright neon sign for achieving the goal.
Use Strategic Rewards to Save Time
To unlock employee motivation you may want to reward people for completing simple tasks that take up an unexpected amount of staff time.
For instance, some human resources departments struggle to get employees to turn in paperwork for things like healthcare plans. The work isn’t complicated but people put it off. Meanwhile a deadline is fast approaching.
How much time is lost chasing these slow moving employees? Doesn’t your HR team have better things to do and what’s the opportunity cost of this chore?
Why not invest some of the money, you’d be wasting on chasing people, in some sort of reward or perk for those who get the paperwork in early or on time. This could be for everyone but give it a sunset date, resulting in an element of urgency.
In some form, you will have to pay for the completion of the paperwork. Why not reward those who complete the task well, instead of focusing resources on those who drag their feet?
Make the Outcome Visible
If you like gadgets, then it’s very important for you to have the latest one in your hands. Companies will indulge your hunger to be first, with high profile events like midnight sales.
These events aren’t just put on for your benefit. They also drive publicity, which makes other people think they need the device as well.
What can you do to put those, who are hitting new benchmarks or are embracing new processes, in the spotlight? Early adopters can motivate and lead the way for others.
Find ways to praise these people and have them to share their journey with others, helping to motivate those who are less comfortable with change.
