Follow the Golden Rule
Yes, the Golden Rule - Treat others as you would like to be treated. As manager you wear many hats and are under a lot of stress, but have you stopped to think about how your busy stressful job affects the employees who work for you. Don't fall into the trap that many managers do and start treating your employees as objects rather than people. Polite and respectful discourse should always be used when dealing with anyone in your life, but especially with your employees. They are the ones you count on to get the work done and follow your lead. When people know you respect them, they will feel more inspired to follow you as a leader.
Communication
It's a simple fact that manager's who communicate well have a happy and productive workforce. Listen to their needs and keep them in the loop. If there are no secrets, then employees will feel more comfortable in their jobs and they will trust you more. Make sure you communicate instructions clearly so that employees know exactly what is expected and so they can be good at their job. And lastly, make sure you find out from them what is needed. Put your resources into making sure they have whatever they need to succeed.
Praise
Nothing is more important in motivation than praise. Make sure you find people doing something well and praise them for it. It needs to be immediate and it needs to be witnessed publicly. Make sure that you find a way to praise everyone at some point and make sure it's believable. You need to be sincere because employees can smell insincerity a mile away and this will be counterproductive.
Get to know them
Find out about your employees as people. If they know you care enough to find out about them personally then they will trust and want to succeed for you. This also gives you an idea what will motivate them personally. They might want to get promoted or they might just want to be good at the job they are doing or maybe they would benefit from flex time so they could be around their family more. Whatever it is, you will know how to help them succeed and if they succeed, then you succeed.
Train them
Make sure they know everything they need to know to do their job well. Training is the key to having truly happy and productive employees. To know how to do something well is a powerful motivator. It will engender pride in your employees because who doesn't like to be good at something.
Revive optimism and inspiration in your workplace by finding ways to motivate your employees. Even though it can sometimes be time-consuming the results are worth it. A happy and productive workforce will make you a more successful manager.
Charlie Bentson King is a writer and producer of motivational training videos for TrainingABC. TrainingABC is a distributor of motivational programs such as Celebrate What's Right with the World and Give 'em the Pickle.
