How to
motivate staff
Employee motivation: how to motivate your employees and benefit from it
Your employees are the heart of your company. The better they work, the more successful you are. But how well do your employees really work? Do they give it their all every day or do they trudge through the week? Motivation is what determines how well your employees work. The happier someone is with their job, the better their work results and the lower your recruiting costs are in the long run. We'll show you why, and what you do can to permanently boost employee motivation in your company.
Employee motivation defined
Employee motivation or work motivation refers to a company's scope to use incentives to improve the behaviour or performance of its employees. Motivation as such designates the entirety of reasons to execute or influence a certain action.
Employee motivation therefore aims to improve employees’ work performance such that they engage for the good of the company in the long run. For you as a company, there are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors.
Intrinsic employee motivation refers to employees who are motivated because of an inner conviction. For example, if someone is motivated to work because they like their job or approve of the company’s social commitment, they are intrinsically motivated.
Extrinsic employee motivation means that people are motivated by external incentives. To motivate employees in the long term, you can use rewards, such as bonuses.
Employee motivation—why it matters
Employee loyalty in Germany is decreasing. This is a finding of the Gallup report 2021 
This research also shows that more than two-thirds of employees have no emotional ties to their companies. A high turnover rate in your company forces you to hire more new employees—and increases your recruitment costs.
Do you have vacancies and want to save time when looking for new staff? We’ll be happy to help!
Boosting your employee motivation will help you counter these effects. Those working with more motivation feel a stronger tie to the company and are less willing to change jobs. This not only has a positive influence on your employees but also on your company. According to the Gallup report, unmotivated employees cost the German economy 113 billion euros in 2020 because unmotivated employees have a 34 percent lower work performance than their motivated colleagues.
Encouraging and motivating employees also has the following benefits:
-
Fewer absences and sick days
-
Fewer resignations
-
Your company becomes more attractive
How to measure employee motivation
How can you find out if your employees are happy with their work? You can gauge the motivation of employees in your company directly or indirectly.
-
Direct measurement: you can assess employee motivation directly by using an anonymous employee survey. This will give you an overview of the current level of satisfaction, feedback about current management and suggestions for improvement.
-
Indirect measurement: you can also read the current work motivation indirectly over a certain period of time by evaluating specific key figures. Resignation rates, absences and the number of complaints provide indirect clues about employee satisfaction.
For both direct and indirect measurements of employee motivation, we recommend carefully considering what you want to ask your employees and/or which factors you would like to estimate. The factors for measuring the motivation of your colleagues should be chosen carefully and scrutinised critically. A high level of absences at a certain time may also be caused by other effects such as a flu epidemic rather than low employee motivation.
How to motivate your employees—methods and measures
Whether intrinsic or extrinsic—use targeted methods and measures to increase work motivation. A long-term effect is achieved primarily by intrinsic motivation. If your employees identify with your company and enjoy their job, you will retain them in the long term and achieve a lasting boost in employee motivation. However, extrinsic motivation factors are also part of the mix and an important lever. Reach our tips for increasing your employees’ motivation:
11 tips for increasing employee motivation
Flexible working hours, working from home, and so on: people who enjoy their place of work are also more motivated at what they do. Use the pool of potential measures. It will strengthen your employer brand and make you more attractive to applicants.
Flexible working hours, working from home, and so on: people who enjoy their place of work are also more motivated at what they do. Use the pool of potential measures. It will strengthen your employer brand and make you more attractive to applicants.
Good managers give their employees good feedback. Of course, feedback doesn’t have to be just praise; constructive criticism can help spur your employees to better performance. See our article about performance reviews to find out more.
Good managers give their employees good feedback. Of course, feedback doesn’t have to be just praise; constructive criticism can help spur your employees to better performance. See our article about performance reviews to find out more.
Constructive feedback also includes handling mistakes properly. Therefore, develop a culture of failure management in your company where mistakes are not swept under the carpet but viewed constructively as opening up the potential for improvement. Your employees should feel that they can talk about mistakes.
Constructive feedback also includes handling mistakes properly. Therefore, develop a culture of failure management in your company where mistakes are not swept under the carpet but viewed constructively as opening up the potential for improvement. Your employees should feel that they can talk about mistakes.
Give your employees appreciation and approval. This will make them feel good, and you can strengthen their emotional ties to the company.
Putting employees in charge and thus showing them trust is a form of appreciation. Your employees’ motivation will increases if you trust them instead of controlling them. For example, ask a colleague to collaborate on a project outside of their specialist field, and ask for their assessment. A task outside of their work routine can spur on your employees and give them additional skills.
Putting employees in charge and thus showing them trust is a form of appreciation. Your employees’ motivation will increases if you trust them instead of controlling them. For example, ask a colleague to collaborate on a project outside of their specialist field, and ask for their assessment. A task outside of their work routine can spur on your employees and give them additional skills.
Young employees in particular want to develop. Enabling them to do that in a field that is relevant to your company will benefit you as an employer in multiple ways: work motivation increases if you encourage your employees; work results will get better and you will have developed company-internal expertise.
Young employees in particular want to develop. Enabling them to do that in a field that is relevant to your company will benefit you as an employer in multiple ways: work motivation increases if you encourage your employees; work results will get better and you will have developed company-internal expertise.
When you communicate openly and transparently, your employees will know where they stand. Communication is an important element of maintaining team cohesion, particularly in work situations with a high proportion of remote work. Conversely, a lack of or poor communication often opens up the potential for conflict.
When you communicate openly and transparently, your employees will know where they stand. Communication is an important element of maintaining team cohesion, particularly in work situations with a high proportion of remote work. Conversely, a lack of or poor communication often opens up the potential for conflict.
Depending on the company, it is not always easy for employees to identify with the corporate goals. Sometimes, the corporate goals aren't a good fit for the individual or the products fail to inspire employees. However, if a manager shows employees that they are contributing to the company’s success, this will help them appreciate the purpose of their work.
Depending on the company, it is not always easy for employees to identify with the corporate goals. Sometimes, the corporate goals aren't a good fit for the individual or the products fail to inspire employees. However, if a manager shows employees that they are contributing to the company’s success, this will help them appreciate the purpose of their work.
If managers are motivating, this will ideally also rub off on employees. Therefore, pay attention to your managers because they exert a corresponding influence on employees. Learn more in our article about what makes a good manager.
If managers are motivating, this will ideally also rub off on employees. Therefore, pay attention to your managers because they exert a corresponding influence on employees. Learn more in our article about what makes a good manager.
Personal targets have a positive effect on your employees—provided they are specific, measurable, realistic and attractive. Work scopes also play an important role: be sure to offer variety, and show an interest in what employees want to increase work motivation.
Last but not least, wages and other financial incentives such as employee discounts or bonuses play an important role. Someone who is happy with their salary is also more motivated to work than someone who feels they aren’t paid what they’re owed.
Conclusion: motivating employees means developing personnel
Increase the motivation of your employees by using the right measures to make them happier. This will not only benefit your employees—they will also thank you for it with better results. The best thing to do is use both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Intrinsically motivated employees in particular will stay with your company for the long term. Measure your employee motivation indirectly or directly and also check whether relevant measures will increase employee motivation. Overall, employee motivation is an important tool for personnel development. It also conserves resources and money.
You might also be interested in:
New hires
You want employees to be highly motivated from day 1? We show you how to use your onboarding to achieve this.
Rehiring
How does successful rehiring work? And what should you consider? We’ll show you in our article.
Personnel development tools
We illustrate how you can attract the best talent.