Employee Wellbeing
November 21, 2022

A guide to employee motivation

Explaining team motivation and five ways to improve it.

Alanah Hammond
5

What is team motivation and why is it important?

Motivation can seem like an individualistic quality, but the role of your work team has a massive impact on it. A great team creates a positive working environment and empowers workers to achieve their own goals. This teamwork, however, is only successful if each member of a team is motivated to do their job. 

Any worker who is leading a team may know that one of the most important parts of their job is to motivate them. A motivated team creates the best results for a company because members are more productive and go above and beyond; for example, research from Gallup found companies with a highly engaged workforce are 21% more profitable

Organisations who also have a high employee engagement rate are more resilient and able to weather uncertainty. You may wonder what it is that spurs them on, and it’s simple. They are passionate about their work and want to produce the best results they can. Working in an environment where every team member is inspired by what they do every day is certainly something every company should strive for.

As a leader, how do you motivate your team to feel exactly this? At Myles Wellbeing, we’ve been researching the ways to boost team motivation. Here’s five easy ways to do just that:

1. Be understanding 

We all have busy lives and sometimes our outside commitments clash with our work. As an employer, offer employees time off for appointments, childcare or sickness, as well as offering breaks for wellbeing, such as a walk for a screen-break. If employees feel looked after they will simultaneously work harder for a company which they feel positive about.

2. Offer flexible working hours

Recent data released showed that in 2022, around 4.27 million employees in the United Kingdom had contracts which allowed flexible working hours. This makes flexible working the most common working practice in that year. It’s so popular as it allows employees to find a way that works best for them, allowing them to be more productive and motivated.

3. Praising achievement big and small

It is certainly important to praise accomplishments both big and small as often the mini milestones add up and produce fantastic results.

Assessing achievements is also very beneficial to any employer. If a smaller milestone took longer than expected, communicate with your employee to see if there were any problems. Not only will your employee feel valued, especially if it is a smaller issue, but you can both work out a solution, creating, in the long run, a better team around you.

4. Follow through on promises 

Employees will be motivated if there is transparency throughout the company. Making promises are really beneficial but be mindful of what you do say as actually following through on your word really motivates employees. Being aware of this accountability is also key. By carrying out your promises, you create a trusting and motivating environment.

5. Get out of the office

A great way to motivate your employees is by having team time outside of the office. If you are a remote worker, benefits such as quarterly team events outside of the office are especially desirable to break up their usual routine and get them out of the house. Many employees and employers alike often report that events like these really help to improve overall camaraderie and team spirit, so it’s worth implementing such a benefit to motivate your team.

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