It should go without saying that motivating employees should be a top priority for you in your business, no matter what. If you have motivated employees who are excited and ready to work, it’s a recipe for success. It may seem obvious to some of you, but there are so many people who think they are giving employees incentive, when they’re not at all. As a boss, it can be difficult to notice when employees are feeling motivated or not. That’s why you need to make sure you always have this top of mind, and learn to pay attention.
There are many different ways you can go about it, but in the end, two methods have worked best for me. I would love to share them with you; hopefully you find them useful.
1. Lead by Example
By this I mean, quite literally, lead with your actions. Actions will always speak louder than words. If you are motivated and bring energy, your employees will react to that. And I mean in every aspect of the day, not just when you’re running a meeting. How you interact with people. Emails you send. Your posture in a meeting. Everyone is always watching and they are looking to you for an example of how to behave. Don’t forget that everything stems from the top. The way you act and behave in the presence of your employees will dictate exactly how motivated they are, to a large extent.
2. Know What Your Employees Want
Figure out what it is your employees want most in life, and help them get it.
This sounds like a monumental task, especially in addition to all of your other responsibilities, but you have to trust me when I say that this is honestly my secret weapon. When you let employees know that you are invested in them, and check in with them often, it can change everything.
Everybody is driven by different things. We all have our own dreams, aspirations, and beliefs that motivate us. So you need to use your ears and listen. You need to sit down with your employees and understand where they want to take their careers. What’s their ambition? What do they want to do with their life? By sitting down with people and actually listening, you’ll be able to set up your employees for success while also motivating them to work hard and fast.
Also, it makes you a good boss. So there’s that.
Motivation Comes From Everywhere
Here’s the big takeaway: Never think for a second that money drives all motivation. It’s simply not true. People are in the game for multiple reasons, and the only way for you to understand that is to listen. Once you understand then you can set them up to be in a place for them to deliver on it. And that gives them incentive to always work their hardest for you, because you did it for them. Get it?
Take moments out of your day to get to know all your employees. I meet with every single new hire at my company in the first few months they start. Every single one. I want to get to know them as best I can. And I really listen. For all the reasons I stated above, it’s so important to understand what they want to achieve in life. It could change at any time, and I want to be prepared for every single moment, at any time, forever.
Be a good boss, and listen more than you talk.
This article was originally published on Medium. It has been republished with permission.