Address: 8 Houlton Drive, Palm Beach, 4275, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | Tel: 031 702 0449 | Fax: 086 605 2670

Are your employees motivated?

Are your employees motivated? Before you answer that … are you sure you know the answer to that question. What is it that motivates employees at the end of the day? Is it the salary? The benefits? What is it that makes an employee come to work with a smile on their face instead of dragging their feet through the door with a sad face? And let’s face it, as an employer, wouldn’t want to know how to have happy employees instead of staff who can barely make it through the day? Imagine the impact on productivity, accuracy and your bottom line.

So perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at what “motivation” entails before you can answer any of those questions.

The most important thing for any employer to understand is that first and foremost, it is vital to match the right people the position best suited for them. The recruitment process is a crucial one which allows you the opportunity to not only source the people with the right skills and qualifications but allows you the change to source people who are naturally suited to the position, with the right attributes required for the position and indeed the company culture as a whole.

Employees who are excited to come to work daily will bring with them a positive attitude, which will influence on their work and your work environment. Ensuring that you find the “right” person for the job will take you halfway to ensuring that the employee is intrinsically motivated. Companies, who overlook employee attributes as a major part of their suitability for a position, may experience high turnover rates, absenteeism, and poor performance. These aspects are notoriously difficult to manage once you have the employee on your books. Starting out with the right person, will reduce these workplace scourges.

On the other hand, there are the extrinsic factors, which is where the employer comes into play. Not everything is about the salary package, although if salary packages are attractive, employers will attract a larger pool of candidates from which to make their selection and subsequently employers will be less inclined to leave when office politics and petty conflicts arise. The tone of any company begins at the top and works its way down. Employees who witness unfairness and unjust treatment in the workplace will begin to become jaded. After all, if someone else is getting away with doing a half-job, then it is difficult for those who are prepared to go the extra mile, to stay motivated.

Not all employers can afford a bounty of staff benefits, luxurious staff programs and top percentile remuneration packages. However, having the right culture in your company, where communication and teamwork, is nurtured, employees are respected for their input, where diverse opinions are encouraged, and where there is a feeling of inclusion for all employees, goes a long way towards ensuring that your employees are happy and motivated. Ensuring strong leadership, which begins at the top and sets the example for all to follow, nipping poor performance in the bud and exemplary recruitment processes will stand any company in good stead towards being employer of choice!