It seems that today everyone is worried about motivating their staff. We have come into the age of the employee, where effective businesses have finally recognized that happy staff members are productive staff members. Also, the next generation (The Y Generation) does not have the same company loyalties that prior generations possessed. Therefore, companies have to find new ways to keep their employees excited about work. Here are few keys to motivational success.

Listen and pay attention

Lots of people tote the benefits of "listening skills" and there is a reason: people like to be heard. As a manager you have to be a normal person, ask questions, show genuine concern for your staff, and give the impression that you are interested in their lives. This may seem obvious, but I have seen so many people that struggle with this concept. They feel like they have to be "the boss" and therefore being a normal person must be left at the door. Now granted, you must maintain a supervisory line. You cannot be "buddy-buddy" with your subordinates because it can get really messy come evaluation and discipline time. But, you can display a certain amount of conversation normalcy and you can treat your staff as people, not just "employees".

Create some challenges

Let's face it. Sometimes work is just not that exciting and it isn't terribly difficult. Therefore, the effective manager will find new ways to challenge their staff through tasks and projects that require them to use more skills than just typing a memo or sitting in a boring meeting. Again, this requires paying attention and listening to what the employee is interested in doing. In addition, it requires finding a balance between challenge and overload. If we aren't careful, a new challenge can become a burden, which can be definitively demotivating.

Goal setting

Sorry, more paying attention. Part of motivation is finding goals to work towards. Goals have been a time-tested way to measure success. Now this is where I will diverge from a lot of management books out there. Most management books talk about goals in regards to the company itself, and they should because we are talking about work, are we not? We aren't all here to build on your hobbies. That said, a smart manager understands that company goals do not always motivate employees. Some employees may be good conscientious workers, but they just don't get excited about the widgets that the company produces. Or, they may have figured

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