How do you get your employees to go above and beyond?
I think much of it has to do with personality type. Some people have the natural instinct to please others and go above and beyond in all they do. Others need to be pushed in order to give their all. As a business owner, there’s nothing that makes me happier than an employee who takes initiative. My goal is to create an environment that makes my employees feel excited to come to work every day and motivated to push themselves toward greatness.
So, how do we as employers motivate our employees to be rockstars?
1: Set goals and recognize success.
Establish goals that your entire team can get around and then celebrate the successes when you get there. Come up with all of these goals as a team so everyone has buy-in from the start. When everyone knows what specific outcomes they’re striving for, it creates energy and motivation within the team. When everyone has something to achieve, they’ll each feel like they’re part of the success.
2: Listen.
Always make sure your employees’ ideas and needs are heard. Some of the best ideas you’ll have for your business will come from your team. They’re the people in the trenches every day, so they should always feel like they can offer input and are taken seriously when they speak up. Set up your weekly meetings to ask questions at the end and listen. As a boss, you don’t always have to do all of the talking. Some of the greatest leaders learn to shut up and listen.
3: Pay your team well.
Give them the opportunity to earn a commission or share in the profit. Not everyone is motivated by money, but it definitely helps. When your team is working hard and can see their paycheck going up because of the work they put it, they’ll feel even more motivated. Ask your team members what their financial goals are and help them achieve them. Let them know that you’re on their side and want to help them achieve those goals!
4: Encourage growth and education.
Offer your team members opportunities to learn more. This offer will keep them motivated and help you stay on top of industry trends. Ask your employees what they want to learn or what their future goals are within the company. You can provide advice and guidance on what they should do to accomplish these goals. Employees who see growth potential in a company are much more likely to stick around.
5: Create a good culture.
It’s important to make your workplace a happy place to work. Have fun and take time to ask your employees about their families, their weekends, or what their next vacation will be. At D2, we do a daily 15-minute huddle on Zoom every morning before we start our day. This is a way for employees to connect about their personal lives and anything they need to be more successful at work. You’ll get to know your employees so much better just by asking simple things like, ‘What were your wins for the week, personally and professionally?’ This makes for a fun work environment and will help to bond your team. It’s also worth it to invest in activities for your team to do so they can connect outside of the office – a lunch, game night or escape room are all great ideas.
We all want rockstar employees at our businesses. If you follow these five guidelines, you’ll be on your way to having a happy, productive team.
