Picture: 30 Wonderful Articles and Sites for Self Motivation
A recent BusinessWeek article details 5 ways to motivate without money. It has a lot of traditional business jargon (why does it always sound so much like button pushing?). Frankly, do your best to build relationships – really it’s the trying that matters.
1. Communicate and stay connected to people: A survey found that 1 in 5 employees didn’t really connect with their work anymore compared to 1 in 10 last summer. In fact one company lost employees they wanted to keep after a layoff because they didn’t communicate.
2. Middle managers need to lead: Tough as it is managers need to go beyond managing (hence the need for leadership). They’ve got to be out there among their fellows, not as an overload but as an inspiration. Staying in the office isn’t going to save anyone. Face time, face time.
3. Creative compensation: You don’t have to dish out cash to help people. There are other ways like stock options or RSUs (restricted stock units). Unfortunately not so relevant to small businesses.
4. Make recognition personal: It’s like creative compensation. Find ways to really recognize someone based on their interests and background. Like a sincere recognition not just some party.
5. Fulfilling work is the best reward: Money rewards aren’t everything. People really get a lift from work that actually means something, makes a difference or does something for the community, the company, the environment or some cause that they believe in. What it boils down to is “doing the right thing every day”.
Note: Lots of people I help and friends keep telling me how much #5 matters to them.
References
Motivating Without Money – BusinessWeek: “Keeping employees engaged is critical during an economic downturn. Here are some smart ways to do it”
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