THE
ULTIMATE
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION GUIDE
THE ULTIMATE EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION GUIDE Motivating your workforce is no easy task, especially when many of the tried and tested methods are fast becoming tired exercises. Luckily for you, we have put together ‘The Ultimate Employee Motivation Guide’. This guide covers topics from how to have a happy team, how to use technology to strive your business and how to create the perfect work-life balance for your employees. Why not have a read and see if any of these tips can help you and your co-workers.
Space Management
1. Mapping the Office Environment
2. The Flexible Office
People Management
3. Striking the Work Life Balance
4. Recognising Individuality in a Team
5. A Healthy Team is a Happy Team
6. Motivating Your Team To Deliver Results
Resource Management 7. Using Technology Effectively 8. Using Employees As Resources
1. Mapping the Office Environmen Office layout is a popular topic of debate, with varying conclusions being drawn from research – this is due to the varied nature of different workplaces. However, one ruling theme is that the traditional office layout simply doesn’t work effectively in the modern business setting. Particularly in industries involving team work, open plan office designs are seen as the way forward, creating free-flowing work space with room for creative collaboration.
Inspiration From Retail Retailers invest enormous sums of money in merchandising and store layout planning in order to optimise their place of business, both for their staff and customers. This optimisation aims to boost sales by putting products in the right place and drive productivity through creating an effective stock management framework around the store. The same methodical approach can be applied to office based environments.
Collaborative Grouping By planning an office layout that positions workers who frequently collaborate on the same task in close proximity, you’re increasing the strength of communication in vital crossteam channels. This, in turn, leads to a productivity boost by allowing employees instant and constant communication between each other.
KEY QUESTIONS:
Employers should ask themselves the follo assessing office layout in order to inform a space:
Within the team, are there any groups whic
Are frequent collaborators positioned clos Conversely, are there any employees posi rarely work on the same task?
How do the current or planned office grou management’s ability to supervise the team
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Image Courtesy of Herman Miller
1. Mapping the Office Environmen Take action: Group employees together based on the frequency of their communications with each other rather than their job role. Factories are a great example of efficient and flowing workspaces. As the raw materials move through the factory, they pass through assembly lines, where employees are grouped by their task or speciality. The groups are positioned in a specific order to ensure that work flow moves in an undisrupted line, with teams overlapping between each stage of production. Each group contributes to the product, adding value along its journey, eventually turning the raw materials into the finished product. The same factory model can be applied to the office environment. There should be a visible flow of work through the office from one team to the next, with close proximity between overlapping departments. This streamlines workflow and takes obstacles created by communication delays, such as waiting for email responses or delayed access to information from another team, out of the mix. A clear, physical workflow throughout the office also means that teams are easier to manage from a supervisor’s perspective. Faster communication means that problems are dealt with more quickly and effectively, with a greater level of accountability amongst employees. Take Action: Speak to your employees about their preferred working environment and who they work most closely with – not all essential communication channels are obvious.
In any office environment, it’s common for employees to encounter ‘blocks’ in their work flow, which require input from other team members, before the task can be continued. This is often done without the involvement of management, meaning that a business may not be fully aware of all essential communications made by their employees when completing daily tasks. Ultimately, changes to office layout are made to benefit employees, not just the business as a whole – and their input shouldn’t be discounted in the decision making process. Each team has their own working style and preferences, and designing a space which satisfies these across the board will result in an overall productivity increase.
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KEY POINTS FOR EMPLOYERS: Open plan and flexible spaces improve communication between employees. Improved communication channels strengthen team collaboration. The physical layout of the office should be based on the frequency of communication between teams.
2. The Flexible Office Everyone Works Differently
Flexible Research
It’s a fair statement to make that everyone’s different, and each person has their own unique working style. Why, then, have businesses traditionally forced employees into a uniform environment, expecting them to thrive? In truth, the traditional office environment is a flawed idea born out of tradition.
There is extensive research suggesting that our environment affects our mood and ability to work effectively. Therefore, office zones such as a ‘creativity suite’, ‘library’ and ‘social zone’ could significantly improve employee satisfaction and performance. These flexible working environments ensure that employees maintain productivity levels, and can move from space to space depending on their needs or preferences. A study by Sheffield Hallam University into office environments supports the argument for flexible office spaces:
Everybody works differently - some people thrive in a social environment, while others need peace and quiet to excel. Unfortunately, many offices today are either open plan or designed as individual private work rooms, meaning that employees are forced to work in an environment which could be hindering their performance.
“There is clearly a requirement for space to s and collaborative work styles - this type of offi office environment to be adaptive. Effectively environment that has a range of different sett worker to move around and match the office specific needs” (Barry H. 2008)
Image Courtesy of Skyscanner
support both individual ffice worker requires the y, this means an office tings, which allows the space to meet their
Image Courtesy of Skyscanner
Featured Expert: Commercial interiors specialists - Area Sq of the FourFront Group specialise in flexible office design. CMG asked Area Sq to deliver a collaborative workspace– bringing together their business into one space. Formal and informal meeting areas, as well as two break areas, were created to bring teams together throughout the offices and enhance wellbeing and communication.
2. The Flexible Office The Wireless Workplace Advancements in technology have vastly changed the way we work today. Wireless networks and mobile work stations, such as tablets and laptops, are becoming standard around the world meaning that employees are no longer tied to their desks. The freedom that the internet has created now means that people are able to work practically anywhere. Corporate culture is beginning to change, as managers and business owners realise that it doesn’t matter where the employee is working, as long as the work is being done.
Cost Reductions Not only are businesses benefitting from a higher standard of work, due to employees being able to work in their preferred environment, but flexible offices have also proven to offer huge cost savings. Traditional office furnishings such as desks and bullpen dividers are a big expense, especially for new or expanding businesses. Flexible environments with varied furnishings, lounge areas and collaborative multi-functional spaces are not only cheaper to furnish, but could potentially mean higher profits due to increased employee motivation and productivity. Flexible environments also offer more room for growth, as spaces can easily be adapted to changing needs - with many businesses knocking down the walls, as open-plan collaborative environments require far fewer square feet per employee than traditional private offices.
Creative Industries Lead The Way More and more businesses are now embracing the benefits of a flexible working environment, with a clear trend towards these multi-functional spaces emerging in new office design. The flexible office is the way forward for organisations to improve productivity. Creative industries have trail-blazed the flexible office initiative - perhaps to an extreme - with forward-thinking organisations such as Innocent drinks leading the way. Dubbed ‘fruit towers’, Innocent’s HQ features AstroTurf floors, picnic benches and even a beer garden - for when workers want to find some inspiration away from their desk.
KEY FACTORS FOR A FLEXIBLE OFFICE: Office spaces should be adaptable for both individual and collaborative work. The physical environment should be as varied as the tasks carried out by employees. A dynamic environment allows employees to match their work space to their task. Employee productivity can receive a significant boost from a ‘change of scenery’. Businesses stand to make significant cost reductions and financial gain by taking a flexible approach to their work environment.
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3. Striking the Work Life Balance
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A poor work-life balance can lead to productivity lags, with employees under excess pressure, working from home and at weekends. Statistics from the Mental Health Foundation reveal that 40% of employees regularly neglect their home life due to pressures from work, with the number of excess hours spent at work directly correlating with unhappiness. In the long run, this can significantly impact business output if the problem is companywide, even leading to a decline in employee retention levels as workers begin to resent their jobs.
Who’s Responsible? Many businesses assume that responsibility for work-life balance lies with the employee – but any good manager knows that ensuring your employees lead a balanced lifestyle means they are more productive during office hours. Therefore, responsibility for managing work-life balance should lie evenly between the employer and employee.
Colgate-Palmolive was recently named top of the pile for employee worklife balance by job site Indeed. Mark Steinerd, director of recruitment, highlighted how their flexible approach benefits the organisation. “Colgate-Palmolive offers some great benefits, such as flexible work hours, telecommute options, and nearby backup childcare centres, which is a nice perk for work-at-home parents. As a result, Colgate-Palmolive has a high rate of employee retention, which is a testament to their culture.” Take Action: Ensure your management team are well versed on the damaging effects of poor work-life balance by performing an audit of all business policies to ensure these are not detrimental to employees.
com Featured Expert: “Excessive work demand can seriously affect your health. High stress levels are damaging to your wellbeing. Being unable to secure an effective work-life balance can lead to broken relationships, both at work and at home. Make sure your work is not damaging your health and wellbeing.” (Ian Draper – The UK National Work-stress
3. Striking the Work Life Balance Unmanageable Workloads One of the primary causes of poor employee work-life balance is management overworking employees by setting unrealistic goals. This isn’t always the fault of management either, as employees gradually get used to larger workloads, accepting additional responsibilities as they are afraid to say “no”. Combat this by creating an open office culture, encouraging employees to speak up about workloads without fear of being penalised. Project managers should work closely with teams when supervising daily tasks, asking employees for regular updates in a friendly manner, allowing them to reprioritise and adjust the workload.
Featured Expert: “There is n different stages of our lives a Getting the balance right sup as in our overall enjoyment o its challenges, and effort is r we wish to spend our time e managing our time effective
(Nick Achilleos of the Stress
Image Courtesy of Huffington Post
no one-size-fits-all because we are all at and have different priorities and goals. pports us in achieving our goals, as well of our day to day lives. This is not without required to consciously determine where each day – prioritising activities and ely helps us achieve the balance.”
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KEY POINTS FOR EMPLOYERS: A poor work-life balance can have serious negative consequences for both businesses’ and employees’ health. Employers have a responsibility to help manage their employees work-life balance. Work with your employees to set realistic workloads, ensuring that enough time and resources are allocated to completing projects. Encourage an open culture, where employees aren’t afraid to speak up if they are struggling with their workload. Flexible working hours, child care, increased leave and holiday allowances can all be leveraged to improve employee productivity during office hours.
4. Recognising Individuality In A T The term ‘diversity’ is most commonly associated with a mix of genders, cultures and ethnicities. However, the term can also apply to personalities, skills and education levels. Unfortunately, it’s a common practise for organisations to try and mould a mixed bag of personalities into their ‘ideal’ employee, with the aim of creating a uniform workforce. More often than not, this leaves employees feeling like robots - not using their strengths, and being given tasks which they struggle with. This can seriously impact productivity, causing businesses to suffer as a consequence. By embracing and addressing individuality in the workplace, businesses can optimise their workforce. Goal: Effectively utilising the strengths of individuals in order to promote synergy within a team. Internationally recognised leadership academic, John Adair, devised a model named the ‘three circles of leadership’ identifying three key areas for managers to focus on when leading a team.
This simple model clearly identifies the individual as one of the three considerations effective management must take into account. The individual overlaps the team and the task in the model, as the team will not perform effectively if the individual is not developed or utilised effectively. The individual also needs the task in order to feel motivated. With this thinking in mind, it is clear that the individual should be the starting point of employee management activities. Take Action: Send out an email to all of your employees, asking them to highlight the area in which they feel most comfortable and any particular tasks they need additional help with. This will give you a clear overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals within the team you manage.
Featured Expert: “You canno assembled teams from a qua such as Harrods. Teams com assembly form. And just like furniture from IKEA, the more in assembling each part, the the longer it will last!”
(John Moore - Managing Dir
Training, providing manage business professionals)
Image Courtesy of Exponentialtraining.com
Team KEY POINTS FOR EMPLOYERS: In order to manage a team effectively, individual behaviour must be recognised. The attributes of individual employees should be taken into account when making managerial decisions. Recognising employee individuality allows businesses to play to their strengths and identify any weaknesses within their workforce. Different personalities are better suited to different types of work, meaning that businesses can place their employees in the most effective position, maximising productivity.
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Once you’ve explored the individual talents within your team, you can work on nurturing employees’ abilities – giving you a clear understanding of which role best suits them in team projects. The concept of a daily “development hour” is a great way to build on your employees’ abilities. This time is dedicated solely to individual learning on a set topic – this could mean building on strengths or improving upon weaknesses. Webinars, online guides and solo research are all great ways to build skills during a development hour.
5. A Healthy Team is a Happy Tea It’s no big secret that our health affects us both physically and mentally. A large amount of research has been done on health factors in the work place, including common health problems at work, the lack of exercise caused by today’s 9-5 sit-down culture and how exercise has a positive impact on our brain.
Health, Happiness And Productivity
Take Action: Keep your employees running like a well-oiled machine by implementing a gym membership subsidy, encouraging employees to take up regular exercise. Encouraging employees to adapt to a healthier lifestyle, and essentially improving employee welfare, is a fundamental approach which should be built into every businesses mission. Remember - a small investment in the wellbeing of your staff can lead to long term gains.
Scientific research has proven that health and happiness are intrinsically linked. Frequent exercise has the obvious effect of improving our health through lowering blood pressure and managing weight. However, exercise also has a significant mental impact on our brains, reducing stress and stimulating the production of endorphins – known as the ‘happy’ hormone. Depression and stress are major factors which can negatively impact productivity in the work place, and, for the most part, can be largely combated through regular exercise. So how can businesses encourage employees to take up regular exercise?
Featured Expert: “Even if you work long hours there’s usually a way that you can fit 20-30 minutes of exercise into your day. For many people it’s just a case of getting up a bit earlier. Some of my best ideas come to me while I’m exercising and the extra energy I get from exercising regularly definitely helps me get more work done.” (Julia Buckley - Health and fitness expert)
am Ward Off Sick-Day Expenses Staff absence due to illness can amount to an enormous long term expense to businesses. According to a study by accountancy firm PwC, workers in the UK take, on average, 9 sick days a year this amounts to a total estimated cost of £29 billion to UK businesses every year.
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In order to escape the costs of high absenteeism levels, businesses should invest in their employees’ wellbeing, whether this is by providing access to private healthcare, stocking only healthy foods in the office canteen, no matter how big or small, each step taken is one in the right direction. Fact: The NHS recommends drinking between 8-10 glasses of water a day to maintain health, replace fluids and help our bodies eliminate toxins and waste – keeping you healthy. Encourage this by investing in an office water cooler keeping your team well hydrated throughout the day.
“At a time when companies are striving for growth, it is vital they address this cost by looking for ways to improve employees’ health, morale and motivation” (HR Consultant Jon Andrews)
5. A Healthy Team is a Happy Tea Keep Your Employees On Their Feet There’s significant evidence that keeping employees active in the workplace is beneficial to their health and your business. Startling statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveal that over 3 million deaths occur each year, due to insufficient physical activity. These figures are obviously a worst case scenario, but they highlight the importance of keeping active and escaping today’s sedative lifestyle. Modern office environments present an unnatural and unhealthy environment in which people sit at a desk and remain inactive for the majority of the day. Although time saving technologies such as internal email or in-office Skype chats may shave minutes off employee time, the long term costs are a risk to employee health by encouraging inactivity. Businesses are taking a leaf out of the history book when trying to keep their employees more active during the 9 to 5. Before the invention of email or phones, people had to walk across the office if they wanted to ask a question or talk about a piece of work. Take Action: Ban all non-essential internal communications via email or phone. This will mean that staff actually have to get up and physically move to speak with colleagues. To further enhance physical activity, remove chairs from meeting rooms. ‘Stand-up’ style meetings have been proven to encourage engagement and
contribution – being on your feet is just an added health bonus. Recently, there has been a growth in the popularity of sit-stand desks, these adjustable desks provide the ideal solution to the ‘sitting epidemic’, allowing employees to raise their desk to standing height and work on their feet. This ergonomic innovation keeps employees active. Unfortunately, these desks can be considerably more expensive, costing in excess of £400 each – making them a sizeable longterm business investment. Software firm, VM Turbo, saw great success with the introduction of standing desks, with employees reportedly now spending 70% of their day in a physically active state. The desks have proven extremely popular with their employees, with nobody on the team wishing to revert to old style sitting desks. These changes may seem small when examined individually, however, they can add up to a significant increase in physical activity when combined over a long period of time.
Featured Expert: “Every hou Whether it is walking to get a of a stretch. Also, instead of across the room to ask them Sitting down all day is not go Health and fitness blogger
am KEY POINTS FOR EMPLOYERS: By encouraging employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle, you’re saving your business significant costs in the long run. Health, happiness and productivity are all closely linked - if you want to boost productivity, employee health and happiness in the workplace are key areas to examine. Small changes in the office to increase everyday activity can have a significant impact.
ur, get up from your desk and move. a glass of water or just having a bit sending an email to a colleague m a question, get up and walk over. ood for you.” (Dannii Martin – at hungryhealthyhappy.com)
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6. Motivating Your Team to Delive All businesses want to maximise productivity and output - at the end of the day, it’s the all-important profit margin that counts. However, results depend on an efficient and motivated team – after all, a business’s output is generated by its employees. The question raised is how to motivate your team to get these results. To some extent, it’s understandable that some employees take on a sedated approach at work, especially in industries involving repetitive tasks. It’s up to management to keep their employees in a proactive, motivated state – a business that just ‘ticks over’ isn’t going to see any gains. A proactive team is key to growth and maximising output.
Featured Expert: “We have sessions with the team, wh chance to be creative and This is a great way to get a company projects and goa place to contribute your ide to aim higher, think creativ
(Ariella Coombs - managin
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er Results
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Rewards Based Culture A positive approach to managing a team will always win over negativity. Strong performance should be rewarded, and any failures should be met with constructive discussions, focused on moving forward. It’s essential that managers set an example by maintaining a professional and positive approach, inspiring their employees to follow their lead. There have been numerous cases of team failures due to poor attitudes, unprofessional behaviour and bullying in the workplace. It’s inevitable that teamwork may cause friction between employees, but maintaining a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude is guaranteed to minimise any bumps in the road. Negative feedback can make teams feel lost and without an achievable goal. Instead, a constructive approach should be taken - giving employees a chance to get back on track when things go wrong.
Take Action: Introduce an incentive scheme to reward top performing employees on a monthly basis, maintaining long-term team performance. Rewarding a job well done has been proven to have an uplifting effect on businesses, who will see spikes in productivity when incentives and reward schemes are introduced. Managers need to set specific yet realistic goals, giving employees a chance to shine, knowing that they can achieve these through hard work.
6. Motivating Your Team to Delive Dish out responsibility
Clear Progression Paths
Trust is a major issue when it comes to team work – employees want to feel a sense of purpose in their job, which they cannot achieve if they don’t believe their managers trust them to do their job effectively. By giving employees the chance to take on additional responsibilities, not only are you acknowledging their abilities, but the added pressure is sometimes all that’s needed to get a team working efficiently.
Providing employees with additional responsibilities not only motivates them by setting a goal, but also gives them a chance to prove their managerial potential. The ability to progress in a role is one of the top concerns identified as being important to employees in the workplace. Without the chance to progress, it can be hard for an employee to remain proactive at work, as there is no opportunity to develop their career.
Take Action: Give key employees an area of responsibility to manage and report back on – this could be taking over a client or monitoring the performance of a specific project. Although major business decisions will always remain the responsibility of management, smaller projects and decisions can easily be delegated, empowering your employees.
All businesses want to grow and progress, therefore it’s essential that there is room for growth with employees – hard work isn’t sustainable unless an employee is rewarded for it appropriately. Businesses should ensure that there is a transparent development scheme in the workplace, with a clear progression path, achievable through good performance.
Featured Expert: “For my own team, I’ve always made employee motivation about the individual. I like to encourage each person to really “own” their area of expertise, their projects, their space - we try to make them feel and act like they really are the “CEO” of whatever project they are working on or whatever goal they are trying to reach.” Chad Halvorson - CEO of ThisCLICKS, makers of When I Work)
er Results
Motivational Teamwork Goals Richard Clark, Professor of Education Psychology at the University of Southern California, has identified five key motivational goals when it comes to teamwork: 1. Foster mutual respect for the expertise of all team members. 2. Help weaker team members believe that their effort is vital to team success. 3. Support a shared belief in the cooperative capabilities of the team. 4. Hold individual team members accountable for their contributions to the team effort. 5. Direct the team’s competitive spirit outside of the organisation - competition between colleagues working together can be destructive.
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7. Using Technology Effectively In many modern offices, technology plays a vital role in day to day activities. Word processing, email systems, workflow suites, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and design packages are all productivity lifelines to many businesses today. With such a wide range of software available, all claiming outperform each other, it can be a daunting task to decide which one is best for your business. However, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that advancements in technology have revolutionised not only the way we work, but also the volume of output and the pace at which we work – and the techno-revolution isn’t showing signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Invest Wisely When it comes to assessing your businesses’ technology needs, it’s important to be practical. Start by monitoring your current technology usage, making notes of any issues highlighted by team members using it on a daily basis. Before investing in new software, ask yourself: • What are the core functions you use technology for? • Does your current software allow you to complete everything required in an efficient manner? • As your businesses grows and you take on more complex projects, will your existing software perform sufficiently?
• Is your team comfortable with using the current technology? Many software packages will offer trial periods. We recommend taking on a trial of a product before buying, giving your staff – the ones who will be using it the most – a chance to test it thoroughly before committing to what could potentially be a costly business mistake.
Featured Expert: “These days, many companies are choosing to pay monthly for cloud services (such as Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud) instead of spending a big, one-off sum on a new piece of software. What’s right will depend on your business, but cloud services generally offer more flexibility and fewer maintenance overheads. Many businesses are less efficient than they could be, simply because their staff don’t know the best ways to use the technology they have. Training can be a great investment. Often you’ll recoup the costs in time saved by your staff, and providing relevant training can boost staff retention too.” (John McGarvey from The IT Donut)
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7. Using Technology Effectively Back Up Plan Such strong reliance upon technology can also have negative consequences, however, and something as simple as an internet outage can cause operations to come to a halt instantly. Be sure that your business has a backup plan, ensuring that data is safely stored on multiple devices. It may be worth investing in a second internet connection, phone line or emergency power supply if you are dealing with time sensitive projects. This will ensure you don’t have all of your eggs in one basket in the event that things do go wrong. Take Action: Ask your team to prepare a report on your current software packages, highlighting any issues or blocks to their workflow. This is a great opportunity to identify whether it’s the technology itself or the need for staff training holding your business back. Business technology specialists, TechnologyAdvice, highlight how crucial it is for businesses “to stay current with emerging trends and take advantage of opportunities to increase efficiency and productivity. However, companies must also properly research and vet their options to identify the best fits for their specific needs to avoid wasting time and money in implementation.”
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KEY POINTS FOR EMPLOYERS: Software and technology can give businesses a serious productivity boost when used effectively.
urus.co.uk Your core staff are the people who will be using the technology the most, therefore their opinions should be heavily weighed before committing to new technologies. Staff training can be an effective way to boost efficiency and productivity when using complex software packages. Cloud based software subscriptions offer a flexible and cost effective way to gain access to the software resources your business needs.
8. Using Employees As Resources The term “human resources” is often, mistakenly, solely associated with the administrative department doing the hiring and firing. Human resources, however, literally refers to the personnel who work for an organisation, whose skillsets and abilities make them an invaluable resource to the business. In order to maximise productivity and grow as a business, it’s essential that management are fully aware of the capabilities of their number one asset – their employees.
Capitalising On Capabilities The hiring of new employees for growth into different areas of speciality may be necessary for some, however, it can be an expensive exercise when you may already have the skills and talents required in your team’s arsenal. The vast majority of professional and skilled workers do not get a chance to exercise their wider knowledge, often finding themselves shoehorned into performing specific and repetitive tasks. The implications of this include inefficiency, poor job satisfaction and stunted business growth - essentially making a business’s own employees, usually its biggest outgoing expense, one of its most underutilised resources. Take Action: Arrange one-on-one meetings with the employees in your team to discuss their development. Ask your staff to bring a list of their strengths and ideas to the table - highlighting any other areas of the business they feel they could contribute to outside of their job role – you’ll be surprised at
the hidden business talents within your team. Just because someone works within the confines of their role, doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of achieving much more.
They Are the Experts As a manager, you’re there to guide and develop the resources under your control in order to meet business goals. It’s important not to micromanage employees, as this could potentially stifle their abilities. Your employees went through a rigorous interview process to get to the position they are in today, and, as such, you should recognise that they are the experts at their own job. Rather than trying to fight productivity decline by micromanaging problems, ask your employees for their input and ideas, encouraging an open minded culture and positive approach to problem solving.
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s KEY POINTS FOR EMPLOYERS: A business’s employees are its most valuable asset. The vast majority of employees possess capabilities well beyond the confines of their job description. Flexible job roles allow your employees to utilise their broader skillset. Your employees are the experts at their own professions – their opinions can be invaluable to the success and progression of your business.
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