How Motivated Are Your Employees

Motivation and Recognition Go Hand in Hand

Motivating your employees leads to an increase in engagement, but the problem is that most employees aren't engaged in the workplace.

According to Gallup, 87% of employees worldwide aren't engaged at work. It turns out that employees are motivated by more than money, it isn't the only force that drives them to perform better.

"7 in 10 employees want their managers to do more to motivate them." - Reward Gateway

When employees aren’t motivated, they’re very unproductive. Gallup found that there are 3 different types of employees in the workplace:

  1. Engaged- they are passionate about the work that they do and feel a connection to the company they work for. They drive to succeed stems from their passion, and they want to grow with the company.
  2. Not-Engaged - they are “checked out” of their tasks. They put very minimal effort toward their tasks. They severely lack passion and drive.
  3. Actively Disengaged- they are incredibly unhappy at work, and they take that unhappiness out on others. They express negative emotions toward other team members who are engaged

Top 3 Demotivators at Work

Here are the top 3 reasons that employees aren’t motivated at work:

  1. They're not recognized
  2. They're not valued
  3. They're poorly managed

When you fail to recognize your employees’ hard work, they become disengaged. Employees put in a lot of time and effort into their work, and they appreciate when this doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s important to take the time to thank them for their dedication to the company, it boosts their morale.

“Among employees who received no recognition, only 48 percent indicated they trusted their higher up.” -Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

When employees don’t feel valued, they will most likely jump ship. Employees want to go into work everyday knowing that they are appreciated, they don’t want to feel like they’re being taken for granted. Employees want their voices to be heard and respected, they want to know that their opinions matter.

It’s important for employees to be able to communicate with their bosses any frustrations that they have. Employees don’t want to feel micromanaged, they want to be trusted by their bosses to do their jobs and to do them well.

Benefits of Recognizing Employees

When your employees are engaged at work, they’re going to be happier and more productive. According the the Harvard Business Review, 22% higher productivity is noted within organizations that have high levels of employee engagement.

An atmosphere of trust and transparency can be cultivated when bosses show appreciation for their employees. Employees who feel like their hard work is noticed tend to feel a greater connection with their bosses, and leads to increased levels of trust and appreciation.

“90 of employees who received recognition or thanks from their boss in the past month indicated higher levels of trust in that boss.” - Forbes

Engaged employees will save you money because you’ll encounter less turnover. Happy employees stay longer because they feel a sense of pride and passion at work. You can save $3,500-$5,500 which is the cost associated with replacing a high turnover employee. People don’t leave places, they leave people. If employees feel appreciated and respected, they’ll stick around.

Top 3 Ways to Easily Engage Your Employees

  1. Set up a regular employee recognition program- Within this program, you're consistently providing praise to your employees. This is important because it shows them that they're appreciated, and receiving regular praise boosts their morale.
  2. Give a list of expectations- This is important because your employees now know what is required of them in order to be successful.
  3. Be transparent & communicate often - It's important to create a transparent culture at work, it allows for honest conversations to be had. Engagement among employees increases when they feel they can be forthright with their bosses and their respect and loyalty increase for their bosses as well.

Provide A Sense of Purpose

Give your employees a purpose and give them passion, for this is the new standard of managing now. Not only will it make your employees more engaged, but it will change the whole dynamic of your business. You’ll become an employer of choice, and this is the first step to becoming a restaurant of choice.

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