5 cheap ways to motivate employees
How do you inspire people to work without raising their salaries? It turns out that it is relatively simple, as soon as you understand how long the money works as a motivator.
In fact, nobody works just for the money. As soon as a person allows himself to at least be in the form of “food, clothing, and a roof over his head,” he will no longer chase after buying any other things.
The only reason people spend extra money on buying “other things” is because they believe that by buying it, they will be happy.
In short, as soon as a person overcomes the level of survival, the only reason why money works as a motivator is the means to get pleasure.
That is why it is so easy to motivate employees without salary increases. All you need is to understand how to improve and make more enjoyable the process of their work.
happy employees
1. Allow employees to reward other employees.
As soon as an employee reaches a significant goal, let him officially recognize the other employee who has provided the most support and assistance in achieving this goal.
For example, in some company someone made a big deal to sell a product, this successful manager can choose someone from the sales department and put his name on a special board located in the corridor. This will definitely bring a dedicated employee a lot of joy, and his colleagues have a reason to repeat this achievement.
2. Hold weekly Quality Assurance meetings.
The term Quality Assurance (QA) comes from high-tech, but in reality it’s just a reason to get together at a nearby restaurant (or bar).
Employees (and especially managers) sit down the way they want, order what they want, and pay for themselves or for someone they want. As soon as the participants start to “relax,” then conversations will inevitably become about work.
This approach will not only strengthen relations between employees with different positions, but over time, this will create the feeling that each of the employees is not only a colleague but also a personal friend.
3. Provide perks for productivity, not for a position
Most companies have obvious benefits, such as parking spaces. Usually they get top managers and leadership.
If you provide these kinds of bonuses based on positions, then you will motivate employees to compete and, as a result, some employees will be able to achieve this, but not always the position will match the preferences of the employee.
On the other hand, if these bonuses and benefits were provided for the specific productivity of any of the employees, this would seriously motivate them, even though they are likely to get a new position.
4. Make work more like a game.
Management consultants, who are always ready to make a more complicated idea from a simple idea, have begun to call it “gaming”. In simple language, this means creating an evaluation system and displaying results where everyone can see them.
Sales departments, of course, have used this approach for decades, but now companies are beginning to implement the same approach in other activities. For example, if you manage a group of programmers, you can score points based on how well their program has been tested.
Experience suggests that the most effective strategies for “gamification” are used by groups of employees.
5. Combine employees with happy customers
People are pleased when they see that the result of their work has a positive effect on the world.
However, workers who do not directly contact the customer are usually not able to see the reaction to the end result of their work, and those who work (for example, support services) usually only hear complaints.
Therefore, if you know a really happy customer, ask him to either visit your office, or record a short video to thank the team for their efforts and to describe the favorable changes in his life.
