A highly motivated employee is a productive employee. In the last few years, in the wake of the pandemic and with changing working practices, managers need to find new ways to effectively engage their employees to ensure that teamwork, morale, and productivity remain high. The workplace itself is changing with the rise in remote working and hybrid models of work. Such changes have been welcomed by some employees but despised by others, and finding the right mix to keep employees engaged wherever their workplace maybe is a challenge for all managers. Here are three ways to keep your employees’ motivation levels high—wherever they are working from.
Use morning meetings to connect and inspire
The morning meeting is an excellent way to connect with your team as one unit. With some employees on-site and others working remotely, these meetings are best organized on a single platform such as Zoom or MS Teams. Whilst important business and tasks for the organization will be discussed as a priority, this time is also an opportunity to connect with the whole team. Part of the meeting can be informal with general discussions to get the whole team communicating. Inspirational quotes for the day are also great morale boosters and help to shape the team conversations and get everyone in a positive mindset. If a considerable proportion of your staff are working remotely often, it is also beneficial to have a short weekly remote meeting that is dedicated to general discussion and chat. Some remote workers will be isolated from the general conversations that take place at work so a general chat helps to keep employees connected with each other.
Create a “chill-out zone” in the office
Breakaway rooms and chill-out zones have been present in leading tech companies for several years, but are now more prevalent in all forms of businesses. They represent a safe space where workers can unwind for a while away from the activity of work, take a break, and come back refreshed. One option is to have an office playroom where employees can relax and game on a dedicated gaming machine such as the 1080p Lenovo gaming PC range of computers. Other options include having space for a ping pong table or a selection of puzzles in this space. By allowing employees to step back from their office work for a short amount of time, their focus will be improved after the break—as will the morale of the team.
Focus on employee recognition
There are few better ways to cultivate a positive working environment than by focusing on what has been done well by staff and recognizing their work achievements. On a weekly or fortnightly basis, it is motivating to bring the team together and highlight some of the key “wins” in that period. It is also an opportunity to focus on employees who have “gone the extra mile” and put in high levels of dedication to get complex or time-consuming tasks completed. Recognizing successes in the workplace helps to promote a positive and diligent mindset amongst staff, and recognition of a job well done is an excellent morale booster.
