7 Ways to Motivate Employees

2017-07-24

Employees are an important and valuable asset of the company. How to build an effective system of material and non-material motivation of personnel? The article provides a comprehensive overview of the most effective methods of stimulating employees.

In recent years, the personnel managers have been mastering all new ways of stimulating. They use not only the classical material motivation in the form of cash bonuses and high salaries but also non-material incentives. Here are a number of rules for the effective motivation of employees:

• The motivation of employees brings results when they feel recognition of their contribution to the results of work and have a deserved status. The atmosphere and size of the office, participating in prestigious conventions, representing the company in important negotiations, trips abroad – all of this emphasizes the position of the employee in the eyes of the colleagues and outsiders. You should use this method delicately: a part or full deprivation of a previous status, as a rule, leads to a furious reaction up to the resignation of the employee.

• Unexpected, unpredictable and irregular bonuses motivate better than predictable bonuses when they practically become a part of a salary. Positive reinforcement is more effective than negative reinforcement.

• Reinforcement should be immediate, which is expressed in an immediate and fair response to the actions of employees. They begin to realize that their extraordinary achievements are not only noticed but also rewarded. The complete work and the unexpected reward should not be divided by long time period; the longer the time interval, the less the effect. However, the rewards from the manager must be put into practice, and not remain in the form of promises.

Employees should be rewarded for intermediate achievements, without waiting for the completion of all work, since great successes are difficult to achieve and relatively rare. Therefore, it is a good idea to reinforce positive motivation in short time intervals. But for that to happen, the whole task should be divided and planned in stages so that you could give each of them an appropriate assessment and a proper reward for the amount of work actually done.



It is important to give employees a feeling of confidence because the internal need for self-esteem requires it. Success leads to success. As a rule, large rewards, which are rare, cause envy, but small and frequent rewards cause satisfaction. You should not single out any employee without compelling reasons for the sake of the work team.

Typical incentives are the following: promotion, empowerment, increased power, providing a share of the economic effect, recognition, the best place at the meeting table, verbal gratitude from the manager among colleagues, the possibility of direct communication with the top manager, a material reward indicating "for what", life and health insurance, payment for medical services, extraordinary paid leave, job security, reduced rate educational loans, housing purchase,  payment for a personal car and gasoline, and others. In this case, a company cannot have standard incentives; incentives should be aimed at a certain employee.

Bonus for fulfilling the set goals

This is the most common type of motivation. Such payments are made when the employee fits certain pre-established criteria. Among them, there may be economic indicators, quality indicators, employee evaluation by other persons. Each company sets its own criteria of this kind.

Motivation through punishment

Some firms prefer to punish more, in others - to encourage more, and some companies found a really golden mean. The level of punishment depends primarily on the impact goals. The main goal of punishment is to prevent actions that could harm the firm. That means punishment is not valuable as "revenge" for the wrong actions of an employee, but as a barrier that will not allow this person to repeat these actions in the future and will set an example for the entire workforce.

However, practical experience shows that the leader should not overreact to abuses of his employees. Thus, punishment is effective when it is focused on providing the required psychological impact on the employee and the whole team. At the same time, punishing inadvisable actions, we are definitely encouraging those employees who work in a permitted direction.

When you punish an employee, it is necessary to have an explanation, for what and why the punishment is applied. Punishment must necessarily correspond to an action. However, material punishment is accepted in case of direct material damage to the company that can be calculated. In many cases, after the failure of a subordinate, the boss can simply talk to him, and it's a done deal. If the main rational goal of using punishments in an organization is to avoid failures, then the application of incentives expresses the achievement of better results and development.

Encouraging a healthy lifestyle for workers

These payments are in the form of a cash reward for quitting smoking, employees who have not missed a single working day during the year due to illness, to workers who constantly work out. Personal rewards are special bonuses paid for having the skills that the company needs at the moment.

Social policy of the organization

An extremely important tool of economic stimulation:

The organization implements benefits and guarantees within the social protection of employees (social insurance for old age, temporary incapacity for work, unemployment, etc.) established at the state or regional level.

Organizations provide their employees and members of their families with additional benefits related to elements of material incentives, at the expense of the social development funds of the organization.

Thus, the company's social policy as an integral part of the personnel management policy represents activities related to the provision of additional benefits, services and social benefits to employees.

The interest of employees in the work in the organization and its successful economic activity is the higher, the more the number of benefits and services provided, including those which are not provided directly in the current legislation. This leads to a reduction of turnover of employees because the employee doesn't want to lose numerous benefits after leaving. Such a policy can provide additional income for employees in the case of low wages (for example, in state companies) or be offered in the interests of attracting and retaining a skilled workforce with a high level of pay.

The Foreign and local experience of motivation in organizations makes it possible to draw up an approximate list of benefits and social services provided in various forms.

• Material monetary form: payments for the purchase of property of the company, assignment of low rate loans, paid temporary time off(for example, when employee is getting married), payment of training of employees at various courses or in educational institutions, assignment of concessional places in pre-school institutions and their payment, etc.


• Material non-monetary form: use of the social institutions of the organization; Use of holiday centre, children's health camps by travel warrants at discount prices (for children of employees), upgrading the technical equipment and comfort of the workplace, improving social working conditions; Increase the flexibility of the work schedule, provide tickets for visits to various cultural events and others.

To eliminate the physical and moral discomfort of employees, it is advisable to invest a small amount of money every month in providing recreation opportunities. For example, to put exercise equipment and board games in special rooms for employees' rest. Western firms began to understand that if people were not allowed to rest, they would not be able to work productively. If you allow the employee to feel at home, then most likely he will work better.

Part of the social policy of the organization is general company events such as holidays, for example, the release of a new product model, days of the company, sightseeing trips, paid centralized dinners, parties. The advantages of such activities are to ensure a good rest for the company's employees, to eliminate the fatigue of the employees.

In addition to useful for the company and enjoyable for employees' type of rest, during this events, it is possible to unite employees of the organization, develop the team spirit and positive corporate culture. Studies show that the place of the celebration does not matter the success will depend mainly on the program of the event, on the ability to organize it, from the created atmosphere.

Improvement of the organization of work and management

Improving the coordination and interaction between the employees of the organization, the proper assignment of duties, a clear system of promotion, the establishment of a spirit of mutual assistance and support, and the improvement of relations between managers and workers it all contributes to increasing efficiency, productivity, and motivation of work.

Non-financial motivation

These tools are especially relevant for organizations with limited material resources, for example, state organizations (including in government and local government). Non-financial incentives include:

• reward-appreciation. Such incentives include passing pennons, diplomas ranks "best by profession", "leader of the year", "manager of the year" with the presentation of a badge and a valuable gift, appreciation letter from the company's management on the work record book. Even a compliment to an employee can be considered as a form of encouragement;


• incentives related to the high evaluation of the employee's status, the invitation of the employee as a lecturer, advisor, etc.

The generalization of the experience of practical activities of local companies and organizations in this area showed the importance of non-financial tools for stimulating of company employees and confirmed the fallacy of opinions on the absolute value of material factors in the formation of staff loyalty.

Directions to increase the use of non-financial factors to increase the loyalty and motivation of the staff of organizations can be:

• Maintaining a favorable psychological climate in the team;


• The development of a conflict management system;


• Formation and development of organizational culture;


• The formation of a sense of justice among the employees, the construction of effective feedback systems;


• Dissemination of effective performance assessment systems among staff;


• Attentive attitude to the problems of employees and the formation of their sense of security;


• Integration of employees into the team;

Creating a "one team" by increasing the closeness of positive emotional bonds and forming a positive group opinion in relation to professional activities.