Every employer desires their employees to be happy, motivated, and productive. However, there are many factors that need to be considered for this to happen. It should be noted that significant changes cannot be achieved without great leaders. Leaders like Steve Jobs, who contributed to Apple becoming a global giant, or Hsieh, who led zappos.com to reach $1 billion in sales in 2009, are creative leaders who bring about significant changes. In this context, managers who will lead must pay attention to the points described below for employee motivation.
Experience and practices gained over many years reveal the importance of multiple factors for employee motivation. Employees want to feel that they are doing something meaningful before their salary. Feeling this in civil society and aid work is relatively easier. However, there are ways to create this element in for-profit businesses as well.
Clearly defining the institution's vision and goals and ensuring employee participation in doing so will not only increase motivation but also create awareness among employees that they are doing meaningful work. Another important point to consider is ensuring healthy communication by providing employees with new information. To do this, it is necessary to inform employees about the development of the institution and determine performance indicators to help them make better decisions.
Another important practice for motivation is to give employees a clear job description. However, the overlooked issue at this stage is that, in addition to clear job descriptions for each employee, the expected outcomes aligned with the goals should also be defined. Thus, what is expected from each employee will be clear.
Establishing trust is another factor that affects human motivation. Employees want to be trusted. Strengthening this feeling from a managerial perspective involves giving employees autonomy in their areas of responsibility and authority. However, this approach should not be confused with the delegation system. Good managers should be willing to let employees struggle or learn from failure, and they should consider managing the process as a skill. Contemporary leadership requires skills such as listening to employees, understanding their needs, and providing answers by asking questions rather than giving answers in advance. Doing these will minimize divergence by ensuring employee participation and focus.
Honoring successful employees and providing constructive praise often provides more lasting motivation than material rewards and contributes to the collective goals of the organization. Managers should express their frequent and effective appreciation to employees and behave in an encouraging manner.
A fair wage policy and satisfaction of superior performance are indispensable principles of management. Belief in this system is essential for employee motivation.
Managers should be aware that many innovative ideas can come from employees working in the field. These employees should be encouraged to provide innovative ideas as individuals who produce, are in daily contact with customers, or solve daily problems.
Another factor that triggers motivation is to establish and implement policies in line with the goals of the institution. A company that embraces lifelong learning for its employees should not perceive the participation of employees in a seminar as a special day but, on the contrary, should encourage such activities. Requesting feedback from employees is crucial. This approach will not only allow employees to contribute to decisions by valuing them but also strengthen the feeling that the employee is a participant in the institution. Additionally, it will provide new ideas and information to a manager as a leader.
Managers should avoid close control and management, which creates motivation for employees. Every employee wants to use autonomy within defined tasks and goals.
Managers should take on a guiding and developmental role for their employees by contributing to monitoring and evaluation based on goals, policies, and success criteria as leaders. Thus, teamwork and team spirit will be strengthened, and motivation will be increased. Treating employees as a team, holding team meetings, and granting the necessary autonomy for team tasks will trigger motivation.
Another point to be careful about is changing the management approach for different types of employees. This situation is one of the most important psychological factors. It is necessary to think well about how to lead individuals for employee motivation.
Creating opportunities for personal development positively affects employee motivation. Employees gaining new skills will take more pride in their jobs, and opportunities such as on-the-job training or vocational training should be offered to employees for this.
In necessary cases, termination may be resorted to. Because employees with low performance can create discomfort for an institution like cancer. Other employees who see an employee continuing their work despite low performance will eventually experience a decline in their own performance over time. However, explaining the reason for an employee's removal from the team will help boost the motivation of the remaining team.
All these are issues that seem feasible at a glance but are often challenging to achieve in practical life. However, by adopting these necessary elements for employee motivation and turning them into a corporate culture, improvements will be recorded over time, and the overall success level will move in a positive direction.
Dr. Bilinç Dolmacı
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