As a leader, you need to understand your organization and have a strong awareness of everything that happens within your company. Whether it is the overarching vision and mission that guides your organization, or the most simplistic company policy that impacts your people, you need to understand it in order to properly support your people. 

Of course, the most important thing to understand within your organization is the activity of your employees. Do you understand the tasks that your people perform on a daily basis? Do you understand what motivates your people so you can create a culture built on high performance and engagement? At the same time, are you doing what it takes to make sure your employees understand what they are doing?

It Starts by Tuning in to What They Do

Boosting profits and productivity requires you to improve employee engagement, which, in turn, improves customer experience and overall performance of the organization. You cannot begin to improve employee engagement without first understanding what your people do for your organization beyond their job titles. This means that you must roll up your sleeves and get involved enough to better understand the front lines of your company.

Take some time to observe and tune into how your employees are handling their roles, whether they are working remotely or in a physical office, then ask yourself targeted questions, such as:

• Do the tasks my employees perform add value to the organization?
• Are my people working on tasks that align with the organization’s objectives and ultimately enhance customer experience?
• Do my employees seem comfortable with the workloads they are handling?
• Have I given my people the tools they need to perform well and achieve excellence?
• Are my employees performing tasks based on the most up-to-date operating procedures?
• Are my team members recognized and acknowledged for the work they do?

If your workforce is engaged and motivated, you should be able to answer with an emphatic “yes” for each one of these questions. If not, you have some work to do.

To better understand employee motivation, it is necessary to put yourself in their shoes.

• Would you feel motivated to perform great work if it were not adding value to the organization?
• Would you want to give 110% if you knew your tasks were not enhancing customer experience?
• Would you feel motivated if you spent each workday feeling overwhelmed?
• Would you be willing to give your best effort day in and day out if you were denied the tools you needed to perform properly?
• Would you feel motivated to work hard if your tasks were dictated by out-of-date policies and procedures?

Of course, you would not. Who would?

Be the Motivator Your Team Needs

Part of your job as a leader is to not only understand employee motivation, but to actively work to improve it. Some leaders will tell you that a lack of motivation among employees is simply not their problem. They blame the employees without ever understanding why productivity and performance suffers. If your people need motivation, you are most likely the person who can help give it to them.

Once you have taken time to understand why your people are motivated or not, you can step in and make the important leadership decisions that will yield improved effort, increased efficiency, boosted motivation and, most importantly, enhanced employee engagement levels.

If your people have too much on their plates, do what you can to lessen the load or help them work smarter. You can do this by analyzing whether their tasks are truly adding value to the company and/or its customers. Your organization will perform much more efficiently, plus you will make your employees much happier, and in turn, they will feel more motivated.

If your people seem to be taking shortcuts or using improvised methods and means to perform their duties, it is probably time to invest in the right tools for them. Otherwise, it might be time to rekindle your collective understanding of policies and procedures so you can help them make the necessary changes.

Finally, once you better understand employee motivation within your organization, you can spread the knowledge by taking time to ensure that your people also understand the organization and their roles within it. Connect with them in formal and informal settings. Ask them for feedback and if they understand how their role contributes to the organization’s success. Find out what they feel they need to do a great job, and they will tell you exactly what you need to hear and the changes you may need to implement. Then, all you need to do is act on the valuable information you have been given.

Tune-In For Best Results!

Understanding your employees and their motivation is a critical first step in improving employee engagement. What are your thoughts? What have you done within your organization to boost employee motivation? 

Please let us know what you think. I am here and available to support your leadership success so give me a call at 1.855.871.3374 or send me an email at joanne.trotta@leadersedgeinc.ca. We would love to hear from you!