Motivated to work. How to get your employees involved

Motivated to work. How to get your employees involved

Motivation in work is important. Because motivated employees enjoy their work more and work better together. And together they achieve goals. In short, a healthy dose of work motivation is good for the employee, the team and the organisation. It is therefore very important that the working environment contributes to work motivation and commitment. The only question is: how do you create such a stimulating environment?

Almost everyone loves to work. We like to be used for our talents and to be of value. This also applies to older employees. They also like to feel valuable. In short, employees are ready to get the best out of themselves. How fast will they actually run? Partly that depends on them, partly on the organisation. Some points of interest:

1. Work on bonding (with the organization and with the goals)

To what extent do employees feel connected to the organisation and the organisational goals? Very important! The other day – on a Friday – my central heating boiler broke down. We had no hot water. I called the company that had installed the boiler. I got a technician on the line and explained the problem to him. He said, ‘But why are you calling me?’ I replied, ‘Because you installed the boiler.’ He replied: ‘That’s not possible because we only work in Nijkerk’. Anyway, the engineer didn’t come. A day later I called the company again. Then I got another technician on the line. He said, ‘Of course I’m coming, because of course I can’t, no hot water.’ See, this mechanic had the motivation. And then you do customer loyalty. You achieve goals and the whole team performs better.

2. Give attention

But how do you ensure motivated employees? Partly by giving them sincere attention. That’s where it often goes wrong. We tend to forget the people and look at the work that needs to be done. When I come in in the morning, I say, “Good morning, how are you? And I mean that. Because if there’s something wrong at home, someone has to be able to say it. Many people think: ‘My colleagues have nothing to do with my private situation. But I look at it differently. You see, I don’t believe you can separate personal and professional life. You shouldn’t want that. Because although you have other responsibilities at work, you need to be able to be yourself. Then you will enjoy your work.

3. Give appreciation and recognition

It is also important to appreciate each employee for what he or she does. That too is often forgotten. We tend to think: you get paid for it, don’t you? But you can also say thank you and appreciate an employee for what he or she does. Try to give attention to every employee, realizing that everyone has a certain task within the organization and in this world. Every task is of value. Everyone matters.

4. Make mistakes are allowed, celebrate the successes

We live in a society where we make high demands on each other. As a result, many people are afraid to make mistakes in their work. That’s not good. You have to be able to make mistakes without being judged for them. Because that, of course, is very demotivating. And it encourages insecurity. Those who do not make mistakes have not worked and do not develop. And celebrate the successes. For example, if you win a new project or if you have completed a project well.

5. The focus is not on the rules, but on the people

Every organisation has rules; collective labour agreement rules and organisation rules. There is a tendency to strictly adhere to these rules in all situations. But that doesn’t mean the employee is central. In my opinion, rules are there to guide, not to compel. Because in doing so you ignore the context of situations. An example: one person requests care leave for a child who has the flu. Another employee appeals to this scheme because his or her child is terminally ill. Same rule, totally different context. This calls for a different application of this scheme. And it calls for a new leadership method: value-creating leadership.

Bonus tip: Make people aware of the common interest

Why do you work? For whom? And for what purpose? Everyone thinks that’s important to know. So include employees in this. Making them aware of the common interest stimulates their intrinsic motivation. Moreover, this stimulates mutual cooperation. After all, if you work together towards the same goal, this creates a mutual bond.

Read more about sustainable personnel policy

Everyone thrives on attention, appreciation and recognition. And, of course, there are many other things that help increase employee motivation and engagement. Such as good development opportunities, future prospects and employment conditions. All this together ensures a sustainable personnel policy. Would you like to read more about that? Then download our e-book ‘Wijs met grijs’, with tips and background information on utilising the strength of older employees.

Are there older employees in your organization who will be retiring soon? Or are you curious what else Essenburgh can do for you? Then take a look at our retirement in sight training.