At Shoppers, Inc. we are very passionate about great customer service, measurement, and teamwork. The article below from Mark Sanborn about 3 Creative Ways to Motivate that Don’t Cost Money and improve upon employee morale relates to our goals and passions. Hope you enjoy it!
There are many ways you can motivate your team. it is easy to use money since it is universally desired and appreciated, even if it isn’t always the best or most effective motivational tool.
Smart managers use a diversity of methods to motivate employees. As powerful as money can be, you need to mix things up and keep your team motivated. Here are three ways that you can use that don’t involve money:
#1 Find Out What Motivates Them Personally
Your employees are truly different and have different needs and expectations for their job. Everyone has different goals, ambitions, and dreams. Through feedback sessions and one-on-one private conversations with your employees, find out what motivates them individually and then work that into your future plans for team motivation.
Begin with a simple question, “What motivates you at work?”
For example, some may be concerned about advancement opportunities. Therefore, they may be more motivated by having the experience of leading a special project team that will qualify them for future job growth.
#2 Consider a Casual Dress Day
Don’t underestimate the power of casual dress, especially if your work environment requires business casual or professional attire for all employees. Unless employees have an image to maintain with customers or clients, appearance is important, but not as important as great results. Casual dress one day a week is easy to offer and fun to receive.
#3 Focus On Motivators Not Related to Work
Another great motivational tool that can be used that has nothing to do with money is to focus on motivators that are not directly related to work. Think about possible prizes and opportunities that exist outside of the boundaries of your job. Offering tickets to a movie, bowling or even gift cards to a local restaurant or shopping mall can truly go a long way in motivating your employees towards a higher level of success. (And yes, it costs money to purchase these incentives, but the affect of a fun reward is different than just getting money.)
There is clearly an abundance of different ways that you can use to creatively motivate your employees. Money is a tool but you have to be able to effectively use all the other resources in your arsenal to motivate others.
Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea studio for leadership development. He is an award-winning speaker and the author of the bestselling books, The Fred Factor: How Passion In Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary, You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader: How Anyone Anywhere Can Make a Positive Difference and The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do. His book Up, Down or Sideways: How to Succeed When Times are Good, Bad or In Between was released October 2011. To obtain additional information for growing yourself, your people, and your business (including free articles), visit www.marksanborn.com.
