Employee motivation is at the heart of company growth and achievement. Studies have shown that the more motivated your employees are, the more effective your organization will be. Employee motivation has also been linked to higher job satisfaction and job performance.
So what is it that motivates your employees to succeed? Traditionally, we’ve believed that money is a key element in employee motivation. The more benefits and compensation an employee is offered, the more motivated they’ll be to perform well and achieve more. Right?
Well, maybe not. A study by Tiny Pulse asked over 200,000 employees from over 500 organizations, “What motivates you to excel and go the extra mile at your organization?” The top ten factors motivating employee performance were:
- Camaraderie, peer motivation (20%)
- Intrinsic desire to do a good job (17%)
- Feeling encouraged and recognized (13%)
- Having a real impact (10%)
- Growing professionally (8%)
- Meeting client/customer needs (8%)
- Money and benefits (7%)
- Positive supervisor/senior management (4%)
- Belief in the company/product (4%)
- Other (9%)
The study revealed that money is not the #1 motivating factor behind employee performance and excellence. In fact, money weighed in at #7, with only 7% of employees agreeing that money and benefits were their motivator. The #1 factor influencing employee motivation was camaraderie. 20% of employees said that motivation from their peers at work encouraged them to excel. That’s huge! Overall, 78% of employees said that a factor other than money was the most influential in increasing their workplace motivation, including professional growth, meeting customer needs, having intrinsic desire, and feeling recognized.
What does this mean for you as an employer? While money and benefits are still an important aspect of motivating your employees, there are other ways you can increase employee motivation around your workplace. The following three ideas are simple ways you can increase employee motivation by creating a great workplace:
Foster camaraderie – Establish team work as a key element of your company culture. Make sure your employees feel like they’re a part of the team. Incorporate team building activities such as team lunches or a community service project. Promote team work by giving your employees time to brainstorm, consult one another, and work together.
Help your employees understand the ‘why’ – Help your employees capture the vision of what your company stands for, what you’re working towards, and what their place is in that bigger picture. If employees can see the bigger picture and how they fit into it, their intrinsic desire to work hard and go the extra mile will increase.
Recognize employee excellence – When you see an employee giving it their all, recognize them for their efforts. A little bit of positive reinforcement can go a long way.
Do you need help understanding how to better motivate your employees or have other HR questions? Contact one of our expert HR representatives at (888) 819-5952 and we’ll help you get on the road to smarter HR.
