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Motivated employees are important to achieve success and generate more profits. They tend to be more productive, allowing your company to produce more output. They also contribute to providing superior customer service, enabling strong customer relationships over the long term. In addition, motivation plays an important role in reducing turnover, absenteeism, and disharmony in the work environment.
So how to encourage employees to be more motivated? Your company can do this through financial or money-related incentives such as salaries, employee shareholding schemes, and fringe benefits. Alternatively, your company can build non-financial incentives such as job enrichment, job rotation, teamwork, autonomy, and empowerment.
In other cases, motivation does not only come from external factors. But, it is also the result of internal factors, arising from within the individual. For example, employees are passionate about work because it allows them to actualize their pleasure or potential.
Let’s now break down why motivated employees are important and what impact this has on the company.
Leading to higher productivity
Motivation contributes significantly to encouraging higher employee productivity. Employees will generally work harder, for example, when they know the company offers bonuses for top performers. So, they try to do their best and work as quickly as possible. They may also be willing to work overtime to achieve targets. As a result, they can deliver more output.
In other cases, employees motivated by promotions will try not only to achieve targets. However, they may also seek to do more for the company. For example, they contribute to building a positive work environment. Or, they suggest constructive feedback for improvement to management. Thus, by doing so, they have the opportunity to be appointed to a higher position.
Finally, some employees tend to be more effective when they have more autonomy. They have greater flexibility in managing their work and time. It makes them more productive than just obeying management’s whims.
Encouraging innovation and quality output
Motivated employees are not only producing more output. But, they also try to make sure their output is up to standard. In other words, they will be quality-oriented.
In addition, motivation also matters in product innovation. Intrinsic motivation such as high curiosity encourages your employees to be eager to develop new ideas about products. For example, they study why current products fail or succeed and look for ways to improve or maintain them. As a result, innovation continues to grow within the company.
Building strong relationships with customers
Say your company offers a commission to the marketing team. They earn more money if they sell more.
Selling more requires the marketing team to maintain good relationships with existing customers and acquire new customers ethically. That way, they can grow sales on an ongoing basis. And, in the end, they can earn more money.
In addition, when motivated by commissions, the marketing team should strive to ensure superior customer service. Thus, they can satisfy existing customers and encourage them to repurchase.
Making human resources more flexible
Changes in the business environment often force companies to be more adaptive. It requires them to develop new, more relevant strategies. They may also have to reallocate resources, including human resources, and reorganize the business.
And, such changes require employees to be more flexible. When motivated by the change, they are eager to adapt and ready to implement the company’s new strategy.
On the other hand, when they are not motivated, they will perceive the change as a threat. As a result, companies are difficult to be competitive because their employees are reluctant to change.
Building synergy in the work environment
Motivation plays an important role in creating synergy in the work environment. Employees and management strive to give their best contribution to the companies where they work. So they don’t just do a good job and meet targets. But, they are also pleased to provide constructive feedback for improvement, not to put others down. The goal is one, to provide the best for the company.
Constructive feedback leads to harmonious relationships and a positive work environment. Thus, management and employees can work together to grow the company.
Reducing employee turnover
Satisfied with their current workplace, employees may be reluctant to take risks by applying for other companies. For example, your company may offer a competitive salary and a positive work environment, which is hard for them to find out there. As a result, employee turnover in your company is low.
When turnover is low, your company can save on costs associated with recruiting and training. In addition, you can also retain the best talent.
Reducing absenteeism
Several reasons demotivate employees to attend the office. Inadequate rewards and no recognition and appreciation are among the reasons. In addition, poor working conditions are also why employees are often absent.
Thus, high motivation plays a role in reducing absenteeism. Motivated employees tend to be enthusiastic about performing daily tasks in the office. As a result, they may take fewer days off and only if they have a good reason, and the company can tolerate it. As a result, absenteeism is low.
Reducing stress among employees
Motivation is also important to reduce stress in the work environment. For example, when intrinsically motivated, employees tend to see a difficult task as a challenge for self-improvement. As a result, they don’t think it’s a big problem. In fact, some may prefer a challenge over a boring routine.
In other cases, high absenteeism due to low motivation will also increase stress for other employees. For example, they may have to take over some errands or work left by absent colleagues. Thus, their workload is getting heavier.
Minimizing industrial disputes
Motivation plays an important role in building good industrial relations. For example, when a company offers a competitive salary and adequate work facilities, it should reduce employee complaints. Finally, it minimizes labor disputes such as strikes.
Inadequate wages, benefits, and working conditions explain why strikes often occur. Employees are dissatisfied with what their company offers or provides. As a result, it demotivates them to work.
