As a manager, it’s your responsibility to keep your staff motivated throughout the working week. You want them to work hard towards targets, to go the extra mile when it counts, and to live their desks at the end of the day having completed the expected volume of work. To encourage them to do this, you need to give constant feedback that they’re doing a good job. However, sometimes, that’s not enough, and you need to go the extra mile yourself to show them that you do care about their efforts. Here are three ways in which to achieve that impression with your staff.
Rewards
There’s nothing like a reward to show someone that you’re impressed with their conduct at work. You can deliver a reward to an individual, a team, or your whole workforce. It doesn’t matter, so long as the right people feel that the reward is attached to just how hard they’ve been working for you in recent weeks. There are plenty of ways to reward staff, including:
- A one-off payment, such as a bonus for their hard work
- A night out or a dinner of your staff, with the firm footing the bill
- A promotion or pay rise for those who have worked hardest in your firm
There are also material goods that you can provide to your staff for their hard work. Consider employee appreciation gifts by anthembranding.com to give your workers something that only your firm could reward them with.
Meetings
As a manager, you’re a role model. People look up to you, and the things you say will carry an extra resonance and weight with those who you are managing. It’s for this reason that one-to-one meetings can be so powerful, whether you’re offering constructive criticism or you’re sitting someone down to tell them how well they’re performing.
Mere recognition can go a long way to motivate your staff. Showing them that you’re paying attention to the effort that they’re putting in, and thanking them for their service, is a brilliant way to keep them on side while also putting into words that you care about their efforts at work.
Surprises
If you’ve had a particularly good month, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t surprise your staff with something fun at the end of it. You might tell everyone to go home at lunchtime or to take the company card out for a spin in the local restaurant. You might buy a stack of pizzas, or a crate of beer for the evening.
Whatever you choose to do, ensure that it’s inclusive and that all your staff will get to enjoy the reward that you’re offering. Little surprises like this will show that you’re a dynamic manager who is willing to push the boat out to make your staff happy. More importantly, it shows you’re not just concerned with performance, but that you’re concerned with your staff’s wellbeing, too.
These tips will help you decide on a method to treat your workers, be that with a physical reward, a verbal word of thanks, or a surprise at the end of a tough month.
