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A good manager will know that each member of staff is motivated in a different way. Some by money, others by recognition for their hard work and skills. Some will be looking for a promotion, others are only bothered about how much money they take home in their pay packet. A good manager gets to know his staff so that he can work out which type is which and then deal with each accordingly.

If you take the person who is only interested in money, this employee may want to do as much overtime as possible, provided he is paid for it. This may please the manager as much as the employee, if overtime needs to be dealt with.

The staff member who is ambitious and feels they should be rising up the ladder to better things will maybe need to be moved to a different department, or trained up, and a pay rise may go with this. With staff members who are ambitious and wanting to strive for more it is important that the manager encourages them and notices them. If they are good enough to work late, especially if it is unpaid, the boss must show them appreciation in some form. Staff may be eager to please but if their efforts and time are not recognised they get fed up with it and do not bother anymore. Worse still they may decide to leave altogether and take their talents elsewhere.

Motivating staff to do well also means allowing staff to approach you when they are unhappy. If they feel their hours are too long, or the work boring, or they have too little or too much responsibility you should be the first person they tell. If they do not feel they can approach their boss and sort things out with him, or if they have what they believe to be a negative and unfair reaction from him, they will moan to the other staff and bring an air of discontent to the whole of the workplace. They may then decide to leave and go elsewhere in the belief that their new employer will treat them better, whether this is true or not. If you are unable to give your staff what they ask for you should be able to explain to them why this is. By giving a believable and honest account of why you cannot supply their needs now you have stopped them becoming unhappy about things. Maybe you can promise to change things in the near future.

Learn more about this author, Carmel Brulez.
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