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Make Them Smile: 5 More Ways to Motivate Employees

We have discussed how important it is to motivate your employees and keep that morale high in the work place. You as a manager play the most important part in motivating your employees. These are five more ways that you can effectively create a positive work environment while increasing employee motivation and morale; making them smile.

1. Know your employees. It is essential that you know your employees. Know about their family; know about what they do after work, what interests them. This is not meant to be prying into an employee's personal life, but knowing an employee can help you to determine what motivates that employee. Different people are motivated by different things. What does the employee want? What do they want from this job, from their life, and for their future? Reaching goals can be difficult. Helping someone to reach a goal at work is impossible if you do not know what that goal is.

2. Learn more. It is your responsibility to create motivation in the workplace. Therefore it is up to you to continue to learn new and innovative ways to motivate employees. You might choose to take classes that are offered at a local college or online. Some companies will offer managers an educational assistance plan. This will give you a fabulous opportunity to continue to learn new ways to motivate your employees. If your company does not offer these resources, then talk to them. Go to your human resources department. Talk to them about the importance of continuing your education. Going forward and learning new things is the way that a business goes upward.

3. Spend time with your employees. Take a few minutes out of your day to just talk with your employees. Give them an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns or simply how the day is going. This will show the employee that you care about his or her happiness within the company. You can also schedule performance reviews either once a month, once a year or however often is comfortable for you. This will allow you time to sit down and spend a little more time with the employee and give you a chance to discuss the highs and lows of the period in which the review is being done. Positive conversations, even on a casual level are a great way to increase employee motivation.

4. Consider the employees feelings about the job. Most employees start out in a job on the bottom with hopes of advancement. One way to increase employee motivation is to discuss the possibility of advancement or anywhere that they would like their career to go. It might be a different position, or a promotion, even working for a different company, your employees should know that you care about the things that they care about. Let them know that you are there to help them achieve their goals and they will work harder for you!

5. Share the news. You as a manager know what it feels like when a higher employee seems to be keeping something from you. Even though there may not be a secret, the boss still hasn't informed you on what is going on. Your employees may feel this way all the time. It is very important to keep employees informed about issues that arise in the company even if it does not directly affect them. Employees want to know about the company and they want to be involved. It is a good idea to have regular "catch-up" meetings, just to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Prepare employees if a major or even an out of routine event is going to happen, such as a visitor coming. Another way to boost motivation among employees is to hold meetings when the company is planning on changing existing policies. Ask for feed back from the employees and ask if they have any ideas about how to resolve the issue.

Ultimately it is up to you to create a work environment that is good for you and good for your employees. A wise person once said "You are only as strong as your weakest link". Increasing motivation among employees will make each link a little stronger and make your team a better one.