After the holidays in the New Year, employees hit the ground running, facing critical performance challenges that set the tone for the rest of the year. The first quarter is a time when performance evaluations are conducted, bonuses are awarded and promotions decided—a time when employees make more mistakes, presumably due to these job pressures. It’s also the perfect time when leaders can offset these emotional stressors by employing strategies that motivate team members.
Energizing staff is a two-pronged process. Excitement, engagement and enthusiasm are a combination of intrinsic motivation from employees and extrinsic motivation from employers. As we start the New Year, more Americans are unhappy with their jobs. So it’s a great time for leaders to energize their teams, according to Allison Vaillancourt, vice president of organizational effectiveness at consulting firm Segal. I spoke with her by email, and she identified four strategies leaders can use to boost morale and amp up employee engagement.
1- Be Transparent And Specific
Vaillancourt underscores the importance of making workers feel how important they are to company success. She suggests that leaders share business challenges and goals and how the company plans to address them with employees. She told me that this helps build a loyal workforce.
“When providing feedback, be specific,” Vaillancourt says. “Nothing frustrates a high performer more than ‘keep doing what you are doing.’ Your organizational stars want to know exactly what you appreciate about their performance and how it contributes to company success. Strong performers also want to continue improving, so share strategies that will help them be even more effective and be positioned for additional opportunities.”
Vaillancourt adds that when employees are struggling, specificity matters as well. “Vague admonishments to ‘be more professional’ or ‘be a better team player’ are not useful,” she explains. “Clearly describe what success looks like by offering advice that might include, ‘Be online at least five minutes before meetings start’ or ‘Offer your teammates help before they ask for it.’” She acknowledges that sometimes leaders wrongly assume that their employees know what they expect of them and recommends not making your expectations a mystery.
“Transparency is increasingly important to employees,” she points out. “They want to know how their organizations are doing and what’s next. While not all employees are interested in financial projections and strategic plans, your best employees are likely curious. Reward them by offering insider intel that helps them feel well informed.”
2- Prioritize Collaboration Over Competition
Vaillancourt’s second tip is to focus on team success while tailoring recognition to individual preferences, like offering challenging projects or professional development opportunities.
“Today’s challenging problems typically require collaborative approaches, but most performance management and recognition systems focus on individual performance,” she points out, suggesting that you recognize and reward collaboration by offering team awards and making teamwork and collaboration key evaluation criteria within performance management plans and programs. “When considering promotions, select strong collaborators over lone wolves who are challenged to work with others,” she advises. “At the same time, be sensitive to neurodiversity, as solidarity work is sometimes the best option for some.”
3- Rethink RTO Mandates
The third tip is to avoid rigid rules that might drive top performers away and create unwanted and costly turnover. “Suddenly everyone wants warm bodies back in the office,” Vaillancourt notes. “There are many reasons for this, including lack of trust that employees are actually working at home, concerns that collaboration and culture are suffering, and even a desire to improve the lunch trade for nearby restaurants. Of course, there are many who believe the RTO mandates are actually a ruse for reducing headcount by encouraging employees to quit. Unfortunately, that strategy is likely to backfire because under performers will likely return because they have no other options, while strong performers will opt to work for employers who offer them autonomy.”
4- Trust Employees
Vaillancourt wisely asks the question, “Why would anyone work harder after being micromanaged?” She emphasizes the importance of giving employees flexibility and trusting them to manage their time. She continues with, “If they are doing good work and getting it done on time, give them some space. They will respond with increased productivity.”
She stresses that freedom and autonomy are highly prized by most employees, especially high performers who want to work where and when they choose. “If trusted to deliver results in ways that work for them, most employees will exceed expectations,” Vaillancourt states. “If, however, they are tightly controlled,” she continues that, “you can count on them to do exactly what is expected and not much more. Smart employers establish high standards and give employees the flexibility to figure out how to get the work done. Systems built around ensuring productivity of under performers rarely yield impressive results.”
A Final Wrap: Strategies That Motivate Team Members
Employee motivation is a two-way street. It’s partly the intrinsic responsibility of workers and partly the extrinsic responsibility of employers. When business leaders consider the above extrinsic strategies that motivate team members, it can amp up engagement, productivity and the company’s bottom line.