Motivated employees are an asset to an organization. Elevated levels of employee morale and happiness take their productivity to the next level. Establishing a work environment that inspires employees to deliver the best starts with employee encouragement.
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Why should companies care about employee encouragement?
Organizations that treat employees as more than resources and numbers witness a better financial performance. In this rapid-paced business environment, retaining employees is an equal challenge to hiring new ones. Employee encouragement can reduce employee turnover and turns a brand into a desirable one.
- HubSpot finds that 69% of employees are willing to work harder if they are better appreciated.
- Visix finds that the teams where managers recognized the members’ strengths are 61% more productive than their counterparts.
- 26% of millennials at the workplace find it inspiring to deliver better when the management encourages them.
That said, there is a thin line between praise and encouragement. Praise focuses on the individual, while encouragement focuses on the individual’s effort. Praising an employee may make the other team members aloof or discouraged, while encouragement inspires others too.
Here are 17 ways to encourage employees, lead and drive them towards organizational success.
#1:Thank them
Though this sounds basic, many managers often ignore to thank the team members for their contribution. It creates a vacuum in employees and pushes them away from delivering the best towards the task accomplishment.
Thanking employees for their sincere efforts irrespective of their results will let them know that they are genuinely respected. A simple thank you can encourage them to work harder and pushes them closer towards the goals.
#2: Lend a helping hand
Projects that never seem to end can create monotonicity in employees. In the long run, this can build up dissatisfaction about the job. Such employees distant themselves from the team activities and do not display enthusiasm about work and productivity.
Watch for such subtle changes in employee behaviour. Offer a helping hand as and when feasible. Check with them if there is anything you could do to make them feel better. Sometimes, all it takes is an assurance that there is someone that cares about their wellbeing.
#3: Build trust
Trust is a magical glue that binds employees and employers. When employees know that their employers trust them, they do not think twice about accepting more responsibility and achieve remarkable tasks. Thus, never underestimate the power of trust in employee encouragement.
#4: Display your confidence in them
As a leader or an inspiring manager, you must let the employee know that you acknowledge what they are good at. Share their achievements, despite their size, in front of everyone. Let the peers recognize the potential and strengths of the employee. It will encourage them towards utilizing their caliber towards the achievement of the common goal.
#5: Set an example
True leaders set an example – both in their words and action. Believe in ‘leaders create leaders’ and always stay as an example to your employees.
#6: Give them autonomy
Delivering autonomy to employees is an excellent way to let them know how much you trust them. It adds to their responsibility and makes them commit to the actualization of tasks without an ounce of disliking the deadline.
Autonomy to employees is also an antidote to one of the traits of demotivating workplaces – micromanagement. Autonomy assumes prominence in this hybrid and work from anywhere era where employees give more preference to flexibility.
#7: Recognize their strengths
Every employee is different, so are their strengths. To achieve employee encouragement, identify their strengths and encourage them towards honing them.
Organize regular one-on-one meets with team members to identify their areas of interest, skills, and passions. Delegate tasks that are in tune with the strengths to make employees love their job.
#8: Create open communication
A workplace ambiance filled with fear is hardly productive. Organizations keen on employee encouragement must nurture an open-door policy.
True leaders are open to employee ideas, even if they tend to conflict with theirs. Employees in encouraging work culture share their notions freely. The communication and knowledge flow becomes bidirectional and paves the way to further employee encouragement.
#9: Care about their career growth
Employees want to grow in their careers as much as they want organizations to grow. An organization that stagnates the career growth of employees seldom turns into a desirable brand.
Offer career growth opportunities to your employees as a part of employee encouragement. Establish policies that allow employees to move to the suitable divisions of the company as per their strengths and interests.
Align their daily tasks to meet their short-term and long-term career goals. Tie up with reputed universities and sponsor online courses to help your employees grow in their careers.
#10: Introduce coaching culture
Career dilemma is common for most professionals. Often this confusion can demotivate them.
Nurturing a coaching culture within the organization is a proven way to employee encouragement. It helps employees gain clarity about their career paths and guides them to choose the tasks and roles that suit their strengths and skills.
#11: Recognize small wins
Not every employee can bite a big chunk at a time. To encourage employees with low self-esteem, set small goals and celebrate them when they accomplish them.
Celebrating small and measurable goals fills fresh energy in employees. Setting small goals is also a productive way to make tedious and tiring projects lively.
#12: Encourage the effort
The main aim of employee encouragement is to identify employee efforts. Unfortunately, not every time may the output be as expected. But that must not refrain you from encouraging the employee efforts.
As discussed earlier, praise happens at the end of the task accomplishment, while encouragement is a continuous process that helps employees accomplish the goal.
#13: Respect your employees
Respected employees work wonders. Giving respect to employees is a proven way to tell them that they are a part of the organization as everyone else is.
Let your employees feel respected. Make them a part of the organizational goals and let them realize their purpose in building the business.
When employees feel valued and respected, their productivity levels naturally step up.
#14: Offer encouraging rewards
After considering all the above, the role of financial rewards in employee encouragement is notable.
Then again, as employee encouragement, organizations need not shell hefty. Company-sponsored health check-ups, family outings, lunch coupons can make a huge difference in employee encouragement.
#15: Instil a sense of security
According to psychology, security is one of the basic needs of humans. It eliminates the fear of uncertainty and infuses a sense of happiness and contentment.
To achieve employee encouragement, create a secure workplace. Not just in the sense of physical security of employees, but also focus on their emotional and mental vigour.
#16: Give them more challenges
A learning curve is one of the crucial elements that decide job satisfaction. A job that offers no scope to learn and improve fails to keep the employees motivated.
Satiate employee’s hunger for learning something new by giving them more responsibility. Encourage their learning capabilities and make it clear why you trust them with the new responsibilities.
Adding more responsibility makes employees accountable. And accountable employees drive the organization towards success.
#17: Make encouragement a part of your work-culture
The energy employee encouragement builds up is contagious. Albeit, in a good way.
Encourage employees to identify the strengths of their team members. Make it a norm in the organization where employees encourage and drive one another with passion and encouragement.
Build Your Legacy
Great organizations are led by great leaders. And great leaders create more leaders by identifying their strengths and skills. Employee encouragement is a sure shot way to create new leaders in your organization who can continue its legacy.
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