Inspiring Higher Performances From Your Employees: Discover What Motivates Them

Walt Disney said, "It is kind of fun to do the impossible."

One could say that Disney was motivated into higher performance by shooting for the impossible - or by doing what had never before been accomplished. He was probably primarily motivated by factors two and six, as listed below.

In terms of the American workplace, what motivates employees into demonstrating higher performance?

Each employee brings their own motivations to the workplace. Some show up to work because their job is their main source of income. Others really enjoy the people they work with; some enjoy their work and love their boss; then some like and align themselves with their company's values. Simply put: Employees are motivated by a variety of reasons. The factors can come from basic core values or something of an even greater calling. Otherwise, they would go somewhere else.

That said, what are some examples of employee motivation factors? Again, I see a variety of factors including the following:

1. A certain level of responsibility and power or status.
2. The challenge of the job.
3. A topic of interest.
4. A manager who is liked and respected.
5. The purpose of the company, which gives employees a sense of connection.
6. The pace of the work or the nature of the industry is exciting.
7. The benefits of rewards and recognition.
8. The association, fun and camaraderie of being with their peers.

For me, it's that kind of 'Sunday-night-feeling' where I look forward to waking up on Monday morning; at a minimum, I don't mind showing up at work on Monday!

Are There Ways to Motivate Employees?

Understandably, it is challenging for employers to discover what motivates all their workers so they can inspire greater performance. Here are just a few techniques that may help:

• Observe employees in their work and pick up on some cues. For instance, can you observe certain levels of trust demonstrated between workers and their supervisors?
• Ask the employees point-blank questions such as: "What brings you here every day or why do you come back every day? Or "Hey, we've never talked about this; but we've worked together for 'x' number of years, etc."
• Prepare for further discussions with new employees. "We've gone over the roles, the tasks and the departments and all these procedures; so what are you looking forward to? What is most appealing to you in terms of what we have discussed? What are you hoping to do here?"

These types of discussions will enable employers to tweak their employees' experiences. For instance, they can provide specific resources for further development or offer rewards that employees will respond to; they can provide them access to information or certain teams and projects, whatever may be relevant.

A manager, of course, is not always in a position to give the employees everything they want. But whenever possible or when the tweaking doesn't hurt the business, there are opportunities that can prove to be invaluable. On the other hand, a manager can miss opportunities for a variety of reasons:

• sense of awkwardness;
• no basis for a relationship;
• level of mistrust; or a
• lack of caring.

For sure, managers want to avoid missing opportunities or, worse yet, suffering the consequences of actually de-motivating employees. In future Insights, I will share real life examples of how employers and managers successfully handle the delicate balancing act of developing employee-motivation techniques.

Each employee brings their own motivations to the workplace. By engaging employees in conversations, managers can often inspire them to achieve higher performance levels.