THE BUSINESS ESSENTIALS

Business Essentials CATALYST

0116 230 1500 | sales@catalyst-uk.com | www.catalyst-uk.com The Business

The latest news and views in the world of business

Ten ways to motivate your staff

Employers often wish that staff would go just that little bit further, both for the business and the customer. With the right motivation they will

It’s true – motivation cannot be imposed; it has to come from within. But it’s also true that firms can create structures that bring out the best in people.

The ideal is a workplace that does well financially, which is also fun to be a part of, where staff willingly work hard and push themselves further. And any SME that gets this right has a good chance of staying the course – after all, people buy people, and a strong service ethic gets noticed by customers.

BUT HOW?

Offer work that is important and useful.

No one wants to go to work to waste their time; everyone wants to feel that they’re achieving and doing something useful. Managers of businesses, no matter how small, must help staff feel that their work has a sense of purpose. Managers need to see to it that every task is seen as necessary. If a task cannot be excised but is dull and offers little satisfaction, it either needs reworking or spreading around so that everyone – including managers – takes some of the pain.

There’s the apocryphal story that involved President Kennedy’s visit to NASA in 1962. The story suggests that Kennedy saw a cleaner carrying a broom. Interrupting his tour, Kennedy walked over to the man and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?” “Well, Mr President,” the janitor responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”

The point is any job can have purpose – it just needs to be found and communicated. EMPLOY THE RIGHT STAFF

Employment law is very prescriptive about the recruitment process and what employers can and cannot do. However, there’s nothing to stop a firm seeking out, on a non-discriminatory basis, high achievers who are self-starting, selfmotivated whose enthusiasm will rub off and raise the morale of the others. By extension, the law allows employers, through a fair process, to remove those who underperform or who aren’t team players. If they’re not working for the business, they need to leave before they irreparably infect other employees. Good legal advice is essential though.

DELEGATE

Managers manage, and others do. That’s the whole point of having staff. That said, no one likes to have their boss looking, watching everything that they’re doing. Assuming staff have been employed correctly, managers ought to able to delegate tasks and assume that they’ve been done correctly. It’s all about

The Business Essentials

trust – managers should dole out duties and only intervene if there’s a problem.

with Adam Bernstein www.abfeatures.com

RECOGNISE GOOD WORK

We work for a number of reasons, economic – we need money to exist, social – we crave interaction with others, and reward – we like a sense of belonging and public acknowledgement of good work. Any good manager worth their salt will note good work and ensure that everyone or, if the firm is big enough, up the chain – knows of the effort that an individual has expended on behalf of the business. Done properly this will percolate throughout the business.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Rules are necessary for the proper operation of any organisation as well as society. However, they are meant to be interpreted and broken if necessary to serve a higher purpose. Employees should be given broad rules to operate by but allowed to find ways of doing things to the benefit of the customer and the business. In other words, staff shouldn’t be burdened with minor rules, regulations, and detail; it’s odds on they’ll end up (accidentally) breaking them and if nothing else, it’s demoralising.

RESPECT

Regardless of religious views, there are tracts within the Bible from which we could all learn. Take Matthew 7:12 – “Whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them…” In other words, we should treat others the way we want to be treated ourselves.

Staff don’t react well if they’re shouted at, insulted, demeaned, accused, or suffer sarcastic comments hurled at them. Managers that treat staff this way find two certainties – staff will treat managers as hostile and will look to leave at the earliest opportunity; and firms could end up at an Employment Tribunal fighting an expensive claim.

Successful managers are those that take the time to understand their employees and what makes them tick

BE PERSONAL

Successful managers are those that take the time to understand their employees and what makes them tick. They learn about their desires, aims and families and this means that not only will they (hopefully) start to care about them, they will have a clue as to what can be done to retain them. Finding replacement staff is costly and time consuming – doubly so if it means retraining someone to replace the lost knowledge.

For a staff member who has been working late, a handwritten letter, acknowledging their efforts, sent to their home with a voucher for a night out with their partner will go down well… especially if it’s for something that they value.

DON’T BE STINGY

Pay is fundamental as we all have aspirations and bills to pay – a pertinent point given today’s inflation. But while pay isn’t critical for all, it’s most certainly a de-motivator if staff feel that they’re underpaid and overtasked. Retail doesn’t generally operate on anything other than thin margins, but firms still need to show that they pay fairly and in line with the market. If there is scope, and the work warrants it, firms should do what they can to reward employees with increases or bonuses. If they don’t, employees will seek opportunities elsewhere – and given the Big Quit this is a very real prospect.

TEAM BUILD

Staff need to work as a team rather than as individuals vying for attention. Birthdays, weddings, personal events should be celebrated with cakes, a drink or whatever is appropriate. Of course, retail doesn’t really ever stop, but even so, it’s about making a point – ideally during the working day rather than in private time – showing that managers care while giving staff an opportunity to bond.

LEAD FROM THE FRONT

Lastly, a very simple point. Managers should show staff that whatever they’re doing, no matter how well the business is doing, that they’re in the thick of it with them. Managers need to lead from the front and take their turn with the worst of the jobs.

TO FINISH

Motivating staff isn’t hard. It just needs a caring attitude and some thought. Those that get it right reap the rewards of what they sow while others fall by the wayside. 