7 ways challenging your employees can motivate them to work hard

As a matter of fact, getting a good job is tough. Likewise, finding the right candidate for that job is difficult. Every CEO, middle and lower-level managers have to ensure that the employees form the core of the company. They have to know that when the employees are happy, then the work will be much more productive.

Every individual in a team has unique attributes, and they work much harder if they are well appreciated and respected. With all these factors, managers have to make sure that employees come to the office to learn and work more by enjoying and not only for the paychecks. Hence motivating the employees to work smarter and harder forms the basis of this article. 

But before dwelling further do you know the essential factors that encourage your employees. In fact, there are many factors that contribute to employee satisfaction, among them 

Important factors

Financial rewards such as retirement plans, healthcare packages give motivation. Besides promotion and bonuses. 

Having a well-defined leadership style can influence employees to work hard. Managers have to create a room for projecting the ideas and for giving a solution. By this way, employees are encouraged according to their skills and abilities in an organization. 

There should be a conducive environment to encourage employees to do what they like. CEOs and managers need to provide a supportive culture that fosters employees to work hard. When there is personal satisfaction, the employees definitely works hard. 

The structure of work also plays a crucial role. It needs to be creative and imaginative. There should be proper negotiation, communication among employees. Besides having cooperation to get the work done on time. 

When there is flexibility in terms of timing, work from home, leaves, vacation, holidays, employees feel encouraged. Moreover, having a personal life outside the business is encouraging and supportive. 

In order to make employees, the workplace has to be fun. Managers need to provide fun workplace. It helps to bring camaraderie and increases productivity. This uplifts the employees’ spirit and reminds them to value their managers. These activities include opportunities for self-development also. 

Imagine waking up daily by looking forward to having fun in the office is really thrilling. Thus it is higher-level managers to look into these aspects. This motivates employees to work hard. However, when this comes into reality then the office will be an ideal place for employees to work. 

To provide such workplace culture, here are a few ways a manager can do

Providing a good work culture

Employees spend most of the time at the office. Hence, the culture needs to be as friendly as possible. If there is a flat organization and open the doors for suggestions, people think feel that you are the person with whom they can talk to. Managers are there to facilitate the exchange of information and opinions. Moreover, it can solve the problems of any awkward situations by interacting with each other and clearly stating the underlying issue is. 

Comparatively, it is also important to provide suitable working conditions like natural lighting, temperature regulations, few plants, and a kitchen area. A few years back HP has implemented this strategy and saw that there is a noticeable difference in morale and work. Similarly, good work culture always provides productive work. 

Give Ownership

The term ownership is always associated with psychological factors. This means that you have to “own” something and take 100% responsibility. At work, employees take ownership when they feel total responsibility on the outcome or target or result. It’s the opposite of making lame excuses or passing the buck. 

In order to promote this responsibility across the team, the employee roles and responsibilities have to be made clear and final. This ensures that your team will be responsible for whatever step you take in the future. 

Emphasize the positive

If there is negative work culture, it hampers productivity and makes the employer leave the organization. Attitude is something related to the degree of positivism, neutrality or negativism about the thoughts someone has about the company. It is all-pervasive and infectious. Employees need to know the need for having a positive attitude. For example, Employees who have a positive mindset is likely to get promoted easily. It improves the relationship and reduces stress.

CEOs, managers need to start their day with a positive attitude if there is any negativity, then it leads to stress and lacks motivation resulting in poor production. Regularly, write a positive statement on the wall, which can be seen by other employees. 

Moreover, recognizing and rewarding a good performance brings enthusiasm and motivation back. On a timely basis, give promotions, raises and bonuses according to the performance and while giving, give them happily and enthusiastically. Recognize each individual performance and have a special mention during conferences and staff meetings. Send appreciation emails and keep things positive in whatever place possible. 

Show them a future career growth

When employees know where the path is going and what is the variable compensation, they become more motivated. This leads to more commitment to their employers. The members of your team are more valued and they will have more possibilities of learning new skills. Provide your employees with sufficient training as and when they require. This makes them advance their job prospects and become more knowledgeable and updated with all the latest technologies related to that industry. 

Be a role model by encouraging creativity and teamwork

As a manager of the company, employees look to as a leader who sets an example for the rest of the team. They set a positive tone who abides by the values of the company. By following this, it can bring meaningful aspects to the attitudes of the employees. If these leaders have a positive attitude, other employees follow that and bring a culture that fosters motivation. this can be done through 

Creativity can be shown by performing any simple activities like giving ideas on a company outing and team building activities. Employee motivation is thus a direct result of the total interactions you develop with your employees. 

As a manager of the company, you need to encourage teamwork and remove any hierarchy or bureaucracy within the organization and be open to all the new ideas from any level it may be. 

Give them more responsibilities

Doing the same activities daily kills the productivity of the employee. To avoid being bored, assign new tasks and let them come out of their comfort zones. Gradually, increase the responsibilities as they become more confident and engaged. Eventually, they feel better at what they are doing and perform more productively. Always set attainable goals and give them a chance to win, shine. Furthermore, the goals can be

  • pitching a new sales figure
  • being in charge of an important project
  • Training new staff members

Conclusion

Implement these few above tips and see the motivation level of your employees. A passionate employee would enjoy the work and reach the success pinnacle easily and within no time. Moreover, there are many attributes like 
Being positive and happy
Encouragement in every phase
and interesting towards their next career path
Also, there are many other tips to be followed to keep employees encouraged and motivated.