“Motivation: the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something.” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary

It’s been proven time and time again that employees are the heart of any organization and one of the main reasons for its success or failure.

In order to succeed, motivated employees are the key. They truly care about their place of employment and their tasks. The big question is… how do you create motivated employees?

Ten ways to motivate employees.

1. Create a great work environment.

   By providing your employees with training, positive messages, constructive feedback and the genuine support they need, your employees will be motivated and poised to do their best.

2. Keep things fresh.

   Any job can become monotonous. To improve employee motivation and avoid employee-draining monotony, add life to the mundane. Be creative.

3. Offer a clean and organized work space.

   When a work space is clean and orderly, it is conducive to good performance. If you’ve ever tried to find your car keys, you know just how time consuming and frustrating disorganization can be in your life. Remember this applies to your employees as well.

4. Listen to your team.

   If you really listen to your employees and work hard to understand their perspective, you foster a motivating environment. You don’t always have to agree with them, but you do need to understand how they feel in order to improve the work environment.

5. Provide clarity about what success looks like.

   It is important that every employee understand the department’s objectives and goals in order to help make them happen. Even though you know what needs to happen to create success, your employees may not have a similar understanding. Don’t assume they know if you’ve never actually told them.

6. Offer praise.

   A great motivator is genuine praise for a job well done. This may not come easily to some people, but by making a concerted effort to offer praise to your employees, you increase motivation significantly. Everyone likes to be told they did a good job.

7. Work at having a positive attitude.

   If you have a positive attitude about your work, the attitude often rubs off onto others. Research shows the attitude of one person can greatly affect other people around them. Understand how much impact your attitude has on your team. If you have a positive attitude, your employees are likely to catch it from you. A positive attitude is a great way to increase employee motivation.

8. Know your employees.

   This doesn’t mean that you have to spend time with them outside of work. It does mean that you need to know the personalities and lifestyles of the people in your department. You need to know what makes them tick. When you understand your employee as a person, you have a better understanding of what motivates him or her.

9. Encourage career goals.

   Find out what your employees want to do in the future. If they would like to go back to school, encourage them to enroll. If an employee wants to advance in the organization, mentor them or help them find a mentor. By helping your employees advance in their careers, you are building loyalty and motivation.

10. Provide flexibility.

    If you are able to offer flexible working hours, you not only build goodwill but show that you understand the work/life demands of your employees. Not every position offers flexibility, but the ones that allow it give you the chance to help those employees reduce their work/life stress load. Reducing stress will not only make your employees healthier, but encourage them to be more productive and motivated.

It is impossible to impose motivation on people. However, encouragement goes a long way. If you practice the methods mentioned in this article, you are well on your way to encouraging motivation that will lead to a successful department.

Best of luck!