Key Drivers of Motivation

In this blog, we take a look at what the key drivers of motivation and how to use these drivers to get your team working to their full potential. Whether this is setting clear goals, giving employees purpose or focusing on development. Here are some great ways to get your team on board and inspire motivation.

Clear goals

When focusing on motivating your employees the best way to measure the impact is a goal. Goals allow progress, motivation and efforts to be measured. However, the mere presence of a goal may not motivate a person and therefore setting goals without a plan of action can be problematic. This is where smart goals come into the equation. The term smart goal means; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely, spelling out the word SMART. Smart goals take all aspects of what a goal should include to be realistic and motivational. 

Specific and Measurable Goals

When looking to set new goals you should start by looking at what the most effective way to measure them will be. Effective goals are specific and measurable, so take your goal and ensure it is quantifiable. If you’re setting a goal to increase sales, for example, you should look at what is needed to measure that goal. So instead of having the general goal to ‘improve sales’ you may decide it is realistic to make the goal ‘improve sales by 10%’. Not all goals will be quantifiable, but these goals are the easiest to measure.

Achievable and Realistic 

The goals you set must be both achievable and realistic for the employee to achieve. If they aren’t they will have little value and will not motivate your employees. Setting impossible goals and then punishing your employees for not reaching them will be a sure way to demotivate even the most hard-working employee. 

Timely

Timely goals should let employees know what time they have to achieve the goals given to them. You need to set a deadline that is realistic to that specific goal. A timely goal will give your employee a focus and will leave nothing out when it comes to motivation.

Why Smart Goals?

Direction- the goal gives a clear set of instructions on what to focus on.

Goals are aligned to company goals and therefore benefit both the employee and the business.

Goals motivate people - they won’t stop until the goal is finished.

Goals provide a challenge.

Smart goals urge people to think outside of the box with how they are working. They will often rethink the process they are taking to get the results. 

Purpose

Employees who have a sense of purpose at work tend to be motivated and have increased pride whilst carrying out their work. For an employee to feel as if they have a purpose at work, they must directly relate their job role to a bigger cause. The best way to ensure that your employees understand the purpose of their role at work is to share your relevant business aims with your employees. This will give employees an understanding of what you are trying to achieve and ensure that they are in touch with the overall goals within your business. By knowing how they can contribute to the business, their work not only becomes more meaningful with a better sense of pride and purpose but also helps individuals understand the consequences if they aren’t carrying out their role effectively.

Purpose is essential when it comes to motivation as individuals are more motivated when they feel as if their work is contributing to the business and they can see what their job is doing to impact the business. By explaining the impact achieving goals has on your business employees are more invested in their work and motivated in what they are trying to achieve. They must know what they are there to do and how their actions impact the business, whether it be good or bad. 

When employees feel as if they have a purpose they are then more motivated to pursue the most difficult problems and therefore have a motivational attitude surrounding work. A great way to make your employees find purpose is to connect your employees’ goals to your business goals. By doing this they can see the bigger picture and therefore have a greater sense of achievement when they are completing daily tasks and projects. The most hardworking employees often work toward bigger business goals such as organisational targets because they value their impact their work has on the business.

Culture 

Your company culture is made up of the environment in which your employees work, your organisation’s mission, values, ethics and the expectations of your employees. Company culture is the personality of your business, it can make or break your whole employee experience and it impacts motivation drastically. The type of business you run will have an impact on the type of environment you have. Company culture can be behind employee retention, productivity and motivation of your employees so it is incredibly important to understand what your culture is.

A positive organisational culture is essential when it comes to motivation and building a positive working culture is a necessity as a bad work culture can have a massive negative effect on motivation and your business as a whole. There are things that you cannot control, but the culture of your business could be the deciding factor in whether you have motivated employees or not. 

This is based on how you as a business leader encourage your employees - but also how things are handled. You should aim for a culture of people who are there for similar reasons and feel comfortable in the workplace and their job. Workplace culture is essential in the retention and motivation of your employees, so take time to think about this. 

Development

Development refers to the steps a company is taking towards their employees’ skillset and their knowledge of their job role. These activities, in turn, make the employees self-dependent and able to contribute positively towards the organisation. The emphasis on development opportunities can in themselves be huge motivators for employees, this is due to an increased sense that they are valued and being invested in.

Encouraging employees to participate in training seminars, conferences or other activities which lead to learning and development are great examples of ways for an employee to grow within your business. Consider developing training programs to help employees grow, with measurable goals surrounding the process. Allowing employees to develop and grow will help show that you are invested in that employee and their future in your business. 

Development opportunities should be readily available, they also need to be continual and show a clear progression route within your business. The goals should be personalised and focused on keeping the employee motivated to do better and achieve the goals set out before them. The motivation to do better in themselves will transpire into motivation to do better within the business, if this is set out in a training plan, for example, it will come across as achievable and therefore motivate your employees to succeed in these opportunities.

Feedback

For an employee to perform their best they need continual feedback on their performance at work and general attitudes and behaviours surrounding work. Feedback can include both positive and negative observations and should always be constructive, try to cover what is working well and what is not working, what this means to your employee and what it means to the business overall. Most employees want to be recognised for what they do, so, frequent, meaningful feedback is essential for motivation. 

Positive Feedback 

Thanking an employee for doing a good job will often result in employees repeating the good work and behaviour. When you are giving positive feedback be specific about what you liked and then link that behaviour back to their goals and the goals related to the business. Positive feedback is essential for an employee to feel recognised for their work and therefore feel as if they are a valued employee. 

Constructive Feedback

Constructive feedback is just as important as positive feedback, be direct with feedback without being harsh and remember here to be factual and assertive. When giving feedback, add in guidance about what could be done better and ensure the employee fully understands what you are saying. It can be an uncomfortable process, but your employee needs to understand expectations at work. Usually, if these issues are hindering productivity it will interfere with their motivation at work and therefore needs to be addressed. If you are constructive with this, it can play a part in motivational factors.

When you are giving feedback remember: 

• Be transparent
• Actions affect the whole team
• Performance relates to goals
• If your feedback is too harsh or is delivered in the wrong way this could hinder motivational efforts.