by Suzanne Rose

Created on: February 16, 2010

Employee motivation can make a tremendous difference in the office.  Employees who are happy and motivated can work far more efficiently than those that are not, and it is often worth the time, effort and money to make certain that employees are motivated.  The following are some employee motivation tips in the office.

Have an employee of the month

This can be a wonderful thing for an employee.  Getting recognized as a great employee can give them pride in themselves and their company and give them motivation to work even harder.  You can add in some little perks to such a title such as a great parking space for the month, a gift card or small reward, a name on a plaque, etc.  You can make as little or as big a deal of it as you want, but the ultimate consequence is often pride and the desire to work well to live up to the award. 

Have rewards for levels of excellence

Having rewards can give an employee something to strive for and can help them achieve more in the office.  The way this will work will depend entirely on the job, of course.  Let’s say you are working customer service and you want the people to successfully get through X amount of calls a day.  You can have a level where they get a gift card every time they go a month and continue to reach this level.  The reward can be large and small; it might even be the idea of it that is the best reward.

Give praise to your employees

It’s amazing how much something that costs nothing can do.  Simply saying “Job well done” can give an employee a boost and a desire to do well in the job.  People like to hear sincere praise; it makes them feel good about themselves.  A lot of times this is all it takes to motivate people to work.  Of course, you want to be careful about doling out compliments like they are “going out of style,” so to speak because if people do not think you are sincere then it might just backfire on you. 

Have company events

Having company events such as a family picnic or a holiday party can be very nice for the employees.  Oftentimes an employee might be appreciative and want to work hard for the company.  It might motivate them to work well if they feel like they are all part of one big family.

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