A happy employee is a dedicated, motivated, and driven employee. Businesses and organisations can only expand and be successful at what they do if their basic operations are run efficiently and effectively. The constant demand for higher productivity, creative innovations as well as constant technological development in a competitive market drives businesses to make profits. Therefore, the ability of the organization’s employees to conduct analyses and carry out corporate goals and objectives to completion is crucial since organisational objectives are strategic and target focused.
In light of this, hiring those considered “The Right fit” and “Best talent” has become imperative for businesses in their quest for making profits and value creation. However, organisational success through talent recruitment is not sufficient in driving results these days. Keeping employees driven and engaged through challenging tasks is waning on work force and lacks the push and interests they seek in employment. Creating an engaging work environment and work culture for an employee is not enough, there is the need to adopt “A rewarding” work structure as well. One where the ideal of a ‘People first’ work culture is the core for employee motivation. Organisations with a people forward ideology are more likely to have employees who will give their best. They will go above and beyond their tasks, be adept in problem-solving while also giving top-notch customer service.
What are some factors de-motivating employees in the workplace?
Repetitive Tasks: A repetitive task, has the tendency to become monotonous. Repeating the same pattern of work by employees will tend to take a toll with time. According to The Incentive Research Foundation’s (IRF) study about Internal Motivation, “Performance thrives when Employees feel engaged in the goal”.
Lack of Recognition for efforts: Inability to acknowledge the contributions and recognition of employees is a major emotional drawback in any work environment. Most employees take up tasks with intrinsic/ internal motivation (their desire to complete tasks for inherent satisfaction). Employers not acknowledging their employees when they go above and beyond in their duties creates worker apathy.
Neglect/ Disregard: The workplace has a major role to play in performance. Having a positive work environment that recognises individuals and their contributions is key. The emotion of an employee about the workplace is important, IRF places importance on ‘Workplace Mood’, in its motivation study, how employees feel about their jobs, work environment and the company directly affects their level of service and productivity.
A poor reward structure: Performance will be low when employees are not rewarded properly. How much they earn; how competitive their salary is and what kind of Incentives are attached to their jobs are important.
How can employees be motivated in the workplace?
Creating a mix of duties: Giving employees who have routine tasks, the occasional creative get away from work helps bring positive energy to their performance. Utilising tools as travels are one of such options that is useful.
Provide regular feedback and recognition: Recognize and appreciate employee efforts, both publicly and privately by providing constructive feedback and praise for a job well done. Acknowledging employees and having responsive management is a workplace performance booster. Using Incentives such as ‘Spot or Spiff’ or ‘Peer to Peer’ programmes makes room for quick acknowledgement of employee efforts and can boost morale.
Encourage professional development: Offer employees the opportunity to learn and grow within the organisation. Support their career goals by providing training courses, workshops and mentorship opportunities. When employees see an opportunity for growth, they are more engaged and motivated.
Good Communication Channels: Creating easy and accessible communication channels for employees is an asset. Seek employee input and suggestions by conducting surveys for feedback. Employee engagement increases when they feel their voices are heard and their opinions are valued.
Utilising Incentive Rewards: Having Incentives to reward performance creates excitement and an added motivation for employees. This value change exchange between employers and employees fosters a happy and performing work environment. Rewards vary and are subject to budget and audience. The most utilised reward vehicles for Incentives are:
- Travel & Experiential Rewards – They say that travel is the “epitome of experiential learning”, this is why it’s one of the most sort after rewards there is. Travel trips are experiences that employees will remember for a lifetime. Learning about different cuisines, cultures and the memories created during those experiences is what makes it so appealing. Rewarding your team with a travel trip or voucher would not only keep them motivated but will increase loyalty amongst employees.
- Gift Cards & Digital Vouchers – Rewarding your team with digital voucher options for their favourite online stores or a monetary gift card are a sure way to get them inspired. Use digital vouchers to reward your team for reaching their targets or doing great work and to drive growth within your Sales Department. These rewards can be instantly redeemed & they’re versatile which makes them an effective part of a rewards strategy.
- Merchandise Rewards – When trying to inspire employees and boost employee morale, merchandise rewards like gift baskets, clothing, equipment, or electronic gadgets can be quite useful. When it comes to recognising exceptional teamwork or customer service, merchandise rewards are slightly more effective than cash rewards. Giving your employees the option to select the reward they would want is actually a strong selling point and would give employees great satisfaction because they would have the chance to select a gift for themselves.
The biggest concern most employers have is about the costs of on boarding reward programmes for their employees. With a well-tailored program on a well-structured budget, reward programmes can be implemented for your company to motivate your employees.
How do you know which incentives will motivate your Employees?
Determining the incentive rewards for your incentive reward programme that would motivate employees can be quite complex and is very much depended on individual employee needs. Different employees will be motivated by different rewards, offering a variety of options that would suit all employees will be key in the effective execution of an incentive reward programme.
This article was supplied by Uwin Iwin Incentives Pty., Incentive Programmes. Uwin Iwin Performance Incentives is a pan African full house incentive company that has over 29 years’ experience in providing companies/ organisations with inspiring incentive solutions in Africa, India & Middle East. With extensive experience in the field, Uwin Iwin Incentives helps organizations enhance performance, increase employee engagement, and drive business results through effective incentive programmes. We work with clients to unlock their market potential and improve their performance in productivity. Our vision is to provide first class incentive programmes to organisations, by using our innovative modern reward solutions within the business market. We welcome the opportunity to work together strategically, so stop by demo pod C9 at this year’s HR Summit for further in-depth discussions about your organisational needs. For more details, please contact us at info@uwiniwin.co.za or visit our website at www.uwiniwin.co.za.