How to Effectively Influence Employees and Increase Productivity
Motivating employees is not an easy task. Getting people to do what you need them to do can be challenging. Having your subordinates commit to a task is hard especially if they aren't motivated to genuinely believe in your company's goals or fully understand the reason to give more than a hundred percent to a task.
People respond to different motivations based on their own personal core values. An effective strategy to motivate one employee may not be as effective to another one. While some managers rely on the most common motivating strategies to increase employee productivity like reward systems or punishments, it is important to note that these are short-term solutions to increase employee productivity. The reward and punishment approach is only effective in fostering obedience among employees. Rewarding them if they perform well or threatening to punish if they fail to keep up with the company's standards are manipulative approaches which may affect professional relationships.
But there are leaders who know how to bring out the best in every employee in a more effective way. Below are some of the best practices that every manager can implement to motivate employees and increase work productivity.
- Allow employees to reflect on their career dreams, the future they want professionally within the company, their individual core values and personal hopes. Allowing them to reflect on their career is aimed towards helping them realise the importance of pursuing productivity while at the same time understanding their selves better.
- Communication is the key. One way to motivate employees is to make them feel that they are part of the decision process and not just workers who have to do every instruction given to them. An effective manager needs to be able to involve workers in every decision-making process and should communicate effectively any information which may impact their work. Consistently conduct meetings with employees. This will increase their trust in you as their manager and to the company. Open communication will also help you assess your workers' needs and aid you in performance appraisal.
- Promote positivity within the workplace. Use the power of positive communication to inspire them to do better at work. Positive communication promotes respect and responsibility and develops better professional relationships which are more effective than the usual reward and punishment approach.
Utilising these approaches will not just improve worker productivity, but will also help you become a better manager. These empowering techniques will surely help employees achieve soaring performance levels, and will bring positive results to your organisation.