5 tips for inspiring your employees

5 tips for inspiring your employees

 “Companies … that are heavily reliant on the relationships and skills of their most talented employees risk financial ruin when they neglect their top performers. 

– Jason Evanish

We hear the figures all the time. Losing talented employees costs us. And that’s especially the case when times are tough. We need to get a handle on what really engages and satisfies people at work so that we can reduce the turnover of employees we really want to keep. According to Evanish, who founded an employee motivation and retention app called Lighthouse, generous raises, praises and perks are not enough.

So are you intrigued about what will make a difference?

In this blog we bring you five pointers from Evanish:

1. Create opportunities for personal growth

Meet with your employees and chat about a career plan, how they can develop their skills and about the obstacles that might lie in their path. Invest in their growth and you invest in your business too.

2. Make work meaningful

We heard this one loud and clear at the Annual Convention 2016. What is the ‘why’ of the work your organisation does? How does each individual contribute to that why? Understanding value in terms of contribution to the larger why is important. See the blog we published “Building an employee-focussed workplace” where we look at contribution in more depth.

If you don’t have a ‘why’ in your business, perhaps it is time to open that conversation?

3. Promote a brand to be proud of

Are you proud of your brand? This point is not just about the so-called ‘big’ brands with kudos. Evanish is talking about working for a brand that you personally admire and respect, no matter how well known it is.

Here is the acid test: do your employees brag about your company to their friends?

4. Pursue good ideas

Give your people some space to explore the things they are passionate about. We know it works.

“…the best ideas can come from anywhere. And an innovative company will find a way to champion them.”

Before Google and Hewlett-Packard, 3M was offering employees time off to explore their own projects and this resulted in their most famous products to date. Read more about 3M’s journey with their 15 percent programme and the critical enablers of it here. (There is failure but as a company it is not rejected, it is expected.)

5. Don’t ignore under-performers

Nothing demotivates employees like an employer who turns a blind eye to underperformance. Set a culture of excellence in what you do, rather than one of mediocrity. Create an environment of accomplishment and then focus on assisting your employees to flourish.

Do you agree with these pointers? Are there any that you would like to add?