Is Your Team Motivated?

Motivation is one of those words that is frequently used, but here is a relevant meaning as defined by Business Dictionary dot com. “Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject or to make an effort to attain a goal.” So, ask yourself is your team motivated?

Life provides us with events and circumstances that make us feel happy and appreciated, but it also throws us curve balls that can challenge our motivation. Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors such as the intensity of desire or need, incentive or reward value of the goal and the expectations of the individual and their peers.

While it is impossible for a team leader to mitigate the personal circumstances of their employees, it is essential to provide a workplace that fosters an environment where employees can attain goals, grow and thrive. The following is a checklist of circumstances that can kill employee motivation.

• Leadership – They say it all starts at the top and trickles down – bad leadership affects every member of the team and the company as a whole. Top employees need effective leadership, so take a look at your management skills and hire and grow great leaders at every level.
• Toxic Employees – You know the glass half empty type, always spreading negativity and suffocating ideas. There’s no room for these people in a successful business environment – they will poison the rest of the team and destroy motivation.
• Wasted Time – If you value your employees, you should value their time. Lengthy meetings that accomplish little, mass group emails containing irrelevant information are a cause of staff frustration.
• Poor Communication – Without clear and concise instructions team members waste time second-guessing what they’re doing, tasks are duplicated, information is misconstrued and destructive rumours abound.
• Lack Of Appreciation – Appreciation is ranked higher than financial compensation by the majority of employees, when hard work and attainment of goals goes unrecognized employees become uninspired and apathetic. It can be as simple as saying “thank you”.
• Professional Development – Without an environment of learning and growth the workplace becomes static and dull. Employees view professional development as you and the company investing in their success.

Great organizations are fuelled by motivated employees; the cream of the crop won’t stay long in bad workplaces.