By: Matthew Hick
Picture this: You're the owner of a seat manufacturing company that produces seating for wheelchairs, auditoriums, and cars. You have approximately 100 employees, 90 percent of which are upholsters, sewers, gluers, and material cutters. The other 10 percent are office staff. Basically, you have a diverse group of employees, each with different jobs, concerns, and needs. The big question is: How do you motivate all of these people?
Treat your employees well and your company will succeed:
If you are a smart business owner, you will realize that employee motivation at the workplace is essential to a company's success. If your employees don't respect their bosses, their jobs, and their company, then your business will not thrive.
Your employees must WANT to work at your company. They must have pride in their jobs, as well as the product that they are making. This about it this way: If your employees truly believe in what they are doing, they are most likely going to output a high-quality product in as quickly a manner as possible. In the end, your customers will benefit from this. Your company will benefit from this. And your employees will the benefit from this. Success is truly a chain reaction that begins and ends with employee motivation.
Put yourself in the shoes of your employees:
So how do you get your diverse mix of employees motivated? Why would anyone want to wake up at 7 AM five days a week to sew material to make seats for wheelchairs?
Would you get up to do this if, hanging above your department, you saw photos of the disabled people using the seats you stitched? Would you get up to do this if you were able to voice your ideas for new seats to your boss and to the whole company in weekly meetings? Would you get up to do this if you were given pay incentives or other types of rewards for the number or quality grade of seats you got done in a month?
If you answered yes to even one of these questions, then you would be considered a motivated employee. At least one of these things would have challenged you and would have given you reason to come in to work.
Think about some key points that enhance employee motivation:
- Every employee wants to feel appreciated in some way.
- Every employee wants to be given some sort of proof that what he or she did bettered the world, the community, or just the company in some sort of way.
- Every employee wants to feel that his or her opinion is at least heard - whether or not it is actually used. Having the opportunity to voice an opinion and bring new ideas to the table is a positive thing for both an employee and a company.
- Every employee wants to be rewarded for a job well done. It is understandable that large raises and elaborate prizes cannot always be available. But sometimes a simple acknowledgement from an owner or a boss can mean a great deal.
As a business owner, or as a boss, understand that one wants to work hard only to end up feeling unappreciated in the end. In a corporate world where money and power appear to mean success, it is key to remember that without good employee motivation at the basic level nothing else would be possible.
