Keeping your employees motivated and happy isn’t just important for morale – it’s important for your bottom line too. Happy employees are more productive, create more satisfied clients and make fewer mistakes. And it doesn’t necessarily need to mean paying them more either!

  1. Don’t micromanage. Empower people to get on and do the job. A good part of leadership is stepping back.
  2. Mistakes happen – learn from them. When someone makes a mistake, don’t destroy them, take the lessons that need to be learnt and incorporate into business policies & processes
  3. Encourage people to disagree with you. Encourage employees to (constructively) speak their mind – they’ll find it liberating and motivational and you’ll tap into a stream of good ideas.
  4. Develop your staff. Provide constructive feedback and learning opportunities for employees to develop new skills. Research suggests that people feel proud of accomplishing harder work.
  5. Praise good work. Recognise your staff for a job well done and they’re more likely to produce consistently good work – without expecting more money.
  6. Stay focussed. Stick to one main goal at a time. It’s better to make progress in one area than to make little or none in five.
  7. Be empathetic. Create the right environment and make employees feel as though they have someone to talk to if they need it.
  8. Encourage ownership. Increase accountability for projects enables employees to take more pride in their work. When people see the results form their work they tend to perform better – so ensure regular feedback & reviews.
  9. Improve team morale. Host regular team events and meetings and treat your team with respect & courtesy. In turn they’ll respect you back.