Productivity is the sum of engagement and motivation. As a manager, you naturally what to encourage these two traits in your staff so their performance reaches is maximum levels. Thankfully, motivation and engagement are directly related, and one tends to encourage the other.
Unfortunately, that means when employees lack one of these characteristics, the other one also suffers. A drop in motivation means a drop in engagement, and vice versa. The question, then, is what can you do to ensure your staff's motivation stays high?
According to the Harvard Business Review, you need to take performance off the table for a minute. Motivation should be less about making employees do great work and more about helping them feel great about their work. After that, performance improves naturally. Here are three tips to help you to that end:
1. Give them context about their tasks
Understanding the impact of their assignments helps your employees see how important they are as individuals. You can't just share this information with them, however. It's more effective when they see it for themselves. This is where goal-setting software comes in handy. Your staff gets to view exactly how their objectives and key results support the OKRs of their coworkers.
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2. Let them do work outside their traditional jobs
This idea, popularized by Google, allows employees to spend a set amount of time working on personal projects. Many organizations believe this policy increases workplace satisfaction while also fostering creativity and innovation. Google gave employees 20 percent of their workweek to do personal assignments, while, as Fast Company detailed, Apple gives its staff more than a week to devote to their own projects.
Even just letting employees switch up their roles every once in a while can be beneficial. Let the HR department do a little management, or let sales shadow your developers. Employees will come away with a new sense of respect for the different aspects of the company, especially their own positions.
3. Acknowledge small accomplishments
Every time a member of your staff completes a key result is a chance for celebration. Give your employees some kudos whenever they do a good job. Better yet, give all your staff the ability to cheer each other on. This recognition helps people value their work, motivating them to do even better.