There are many ways to think about business, and by far one of the most popular and effective analogies is between the corporate world and the world of sport. There are few arenas with a greater emphasis on excellence and winning that can match the realm of sports. Its coaches, players, and passion gives rise to a whole quotable vocabulary of victory, from “Commitment to Excellence” to “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” to the everyday inducements to “be a team player” and “give 110%.” That said, if there’s anything that can match the drive and determination of the sports world, it’s the business world.
It is for that reason that employee motivation is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. There are countless variables that go into the creation of a successful business, but none of that can work, indeed none of those goals can come to fruition, without the best efforts of your best people at work. The rhetoric of the ballfield echoes through the boardroom, as motivation becomes the name of the game. To get the most out of your business, you need to get the most out of your employees—and here are a few tips to get that done.
The Importance of Motivation
To begin with, it has to be said that a happy worker is a productive worker and an engaged worker is typically a happy worker. We all like to think that our efforts count for something, that our lives have purpose. You want to give your employees the impression that they matter and that means finding bold new ways for them to see themselves as being emboldened by their work. In order to do that, you need to find ways to motivate them, and that motivation, as discussed below, can take on a few forms.
Cultivating Continuity
Teams become winning teams, champions, and even dynasties many different ways, but one thing nearly all winners have in common is continuity. Having the same greater players learn and grow together is the definition of a sum becoming even greater than its parts. The same basic principle holds true when it comes to the question of continuity in the workplace.
If your company is a revolving door, not only will you be unable to develop a rapport with your employees, and thus won’t be able to get them engaged with you on a meaningful level, but you won’t be able to grow them together as a cohesive whole. What’s more, a rotating door tends to scare off “free agent” hires from outside the company. As a result, when considering the question of how to engage employees, you must begin by looking at ways to cultivate continuity.
A Personal Approach
When it comes to actually engaging your employees, you’ll need to employ a variety of approaches. In fact, the most basic piece of advice in terms of how to personally engage with your employees is to treat each employee personally. Broad, sweeping generalised formulas do not generally do well here, and are certainly no substitute for the kind of personal engagement that gets a team of players or workers to put in the extra hours and extra effort for a cause in which they believe and are truly invested.
Practice a winning formula and personalise your approach to your workers.
