Unlimited Motivation

70% of your employees are less motivated today than they used to be.

80% of your employees could perform significantly better if they wanted to.

50% of your employees only put enough effort into their work to keep their job.

Source: Statistics are from the book Super Motivation by Dean Spitzer, 1995.

Is this the way you want it to be at your company? Did you know that all your employees are capable of an unlimited amount of motivation? Think of one or two people in your organization that appear to have more energy, higher output, and more enthusiasm for their work than all your other employees combined. Perhaps it is you! Have you ever wondered why everyone else does not feel as motivated as you do? After all, you are not asking them to come in 2 hours early or stay 2 hours late, all you want is for them to give that little extra customer service, smile instead of frown, and not complain so much. How do you get your employees to give that little extra that goes so far in making your customers satisfied?

Does your company offer a great health plan, a 401k retirement plan, and four weeks of vacation each year and you are still obtaining less than stellar performance from your employees? Well, you have just discovered that a great benefits package, vacation, and even a salary increase are not human motivators. Benefits, vacation, and salary are employee maintenance factors and not employee motivators. A company offers these benefits in order to attract and retain talented workers. Take a look at any company and you will find that the more valuable the employee is to the company, the more valuable their benefits packages will become.

Okay, you have convinced me! I will not try to motivate my employees by giving them extra vacation or benefits. My company does offer employees free use of the company car on weekends, a bimonthly drawing for a designated parking spot, and even a free pizza every Friday afternoon. Will these activities provide the company with highly motivated employees? Unfortunately no, the above activities are called employee morale boosters. They are designed to raise the morale of employees so that they feel good about the company they work for. Morale boosters do not increase motivation because they are not directly tied to an increase in performance. An employee with good morale is not necessary a motivated employee. For example, an employee that comes to work and spends one or two hours each day socializing may have great morale, but will also have the worst production levels of any employee in the department.

If a great benefit package will not motivate an employee, and a designated parking spot with their name stencilled in gold will not motivate an employee, what will? Before this question is anwered, think about the following question. In order to motivate your employees do you change the employee or the organization in which the employee works?

When you think about it, the success of any facet of your business can almost always be traced back to motivated employees. From productivity and profitability to recruiting and retention, hardworking and happy employees lead to triumph.

Unfortunately, motivating people is far from an exact science. There's no secret formula, no set calculation, no work sheet to fill out. In fact, motivation can be as individual as the employees who work for you. One employee may be motivated only by money. Another may appreciate personal recognition for a job well done. Still another may work harder if she has equity in the business.

But you can boil down employee motivation to one basic ideal -- finding out what your employees want and finding a way to give it to them or to enable them to earn it. Here we've gathered some of the best and most interesting motivational techniques used by successful entrepreneurs. We hope they'll motivate you, too.

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."-- Dale Carnegie

Successful business leaders appear to be emotionally bionic in order to serve all the demands they're required to meet each day. The good news (and there is some) is that a leader who's well liked by his or her employees inspires loyalty which in turn increases productivity and keeps morale high and turnover low.

Here are some tips and tricks you can use with your employees--and your clients and vendors, too--that demonstrate great leadership skills. By applying these suggestions in your business, you'll create trust and loyalty by consistently showing your employees that you care about them and the work they do.

1. The start of the day is a great time to demonstrate high levels of enthusiasm for the new workday. Go out of your way to greet your employees. Deliver compliments early in the day to put your employees in a positive frame of mind as they face their day.
2. Give your employees lots of opportunities to see you frequently throughout the day. Walk around the company with your head high and a smile on your face. Avoid hiding out in your office doing paperwork for hours at a time. If your employees don't see you during the day, they can feel ignored or (worse yet) demoralized.
3. Celebrate victories. Set small and attainable goals every few weeks or months to give your employees tasks worth striving toward. Don't wait until you complete a big project to congratulate the people who were involved. It's easy to bring in a cake and some soft drinks to reward outstanding performances for a job well done.
4. Encourage order. Every few months, give your employees two or three hours to clean their desks, their files, and do minor computer repairs. If you let them know you care about their working conditions and their stress levels, they'll be more dedicated to producing top quality work.
5. When the afternoon slump hits (around 3:00 p.m.), take a walk around the office and ask people, "How's it going?" This is a time when everyone needs a quick lift and they'll appreciate your care and concern.
6. Create a locked suggestion box and periodically review the contents. Let your employees know you're concerned about their well being by addressing their issues. Post the suggestions by sending out an e-mail newsletter or tacking them up on a bulletin board.
7. Offer incentives for your employees to show them you care about them. Allow them time off to volunteer for community projects your company supports if they produce quality work. Offer flex time to those qualified people who need it for personal reasons (a sick child, a semester of extra education, etc.). Create special privileges for those who excel at projects or quotas (ball-game tickets, restaurant coupons, theater tickets).
8. Encourage friendships among co-workers. People want to have friends at work, yet many are too busy or too shy to know how to go about it. Encourage interaction by giving your employees the chance to share their talents with other employees within your office. Most offices attract a great variety of talented people. For example, if someone in your company plays chess and would be willing to teach chess to other who are interested, allow them to promote their skill and give them a place (a lunch room or vacant office) to teach those who'd like to learn chess. Or knitting. Or another language. Or how to play the harmonica. The list is endless! Your employees will love you for caring.
9. Hide your anger. If an employee does something that provokes your anger, instead of blowing up at them, let that person know you're disappointed in his or her behavior and never criticize them as a person. That's the difference between a good critique and criticism. Most people can learn from a well-thought-out critique yet all people hate being criticized.
10. Show your humanity. Everyone loves a person with a good sense of humor. You don't need to tell jokes, but learn to laugh out loud easily and often.