SARASWATI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

AND TECHNOLOGY

A PRESENTATION
On
Motivation techniques and its role
In increasing productivity

SUBMITTED TO- SUBMITTED BY-

Why You Should Motivate Your Employees

Motivating one's employees is a tough job, but someone's got to do it. And when you are the

owner of the business or part of the management staff, no doubt that someone pertains to you.

There are many ways with which you can motivate your employees. However, not all employees

are the same, so different strategies must be used to achieve the single goal of motivating all of

them. More important than knowing what methods to employ is gaining understanding and

seeing the need to motivate employees in the first place.

Employee motivation performance is a significant ingredient in the success of any business

endeavor. This is true most especially in cases where human resource is a big part of a

company's growth, and these days, even with continuous advancements in technology, nothing
can compare to what human employees can contribute to the company. This is why it is a must to

motivate your employees as early as you detect a change in their attitude towards work and as

soon as you see a downgrade in terms of productivity and overall performance.

Without motivation, employees are likely to work out of habit or need, not out of sincere

dedication and passion. When employees experience dissatisfaction with their work or a lack of

spark, your business is sure to suffer. Furthermore, if left ignored, this dissatisfaction can turn

into mass rebellion - which can manifest in the form of union rallies, irreverence, or plain and

simple indifference - and your business can face serious consequences.

Employee motivation techniques vary from expert to expert. However, they all have the same

goal, getting employees to want to do their job better and more efficiently. So how can a

business owner or manager get their employees motivated?

Through effective employee motivation techniques a company can get much better performance

out of their employees. One technique to motivate employees that works really well is the

employee of the month. This highlights a single individual who has shown outstanding drive,

performance and effort for the given month. This should be awarded by management and not by

peer review. You do not want it to become a popularity contest. Most companies will post the

person's picture in a prominent area, and they also get a few perks for that month -- a parking

spot up close to the entrance with a sign that says reserved for employee of the month is often

given. Sometimes a small gift is given like a pen or coffee mug that says employee of the month.

It is usually good to have an awards ceremony or to give out this award at management meeting.

It does not cost the company a lot of money to implement this, but the result of this technique is

huge. First of all it gives the employee recognition and lots of it. We all like to be told when we

have done a good job. This is especially true when we know we have put a lot of time and effort

into something. This simple technique will definitely motivate your employees.
Techniques for Motivating Employees

Motivating the employees is an easy task for managers and CEOs who understand that

employees are not unidimensional entities but they need praise, recognition and applauds for

their outstanding achievements. Here are some techniques that HR managers have to ensure

for motivating employees.

Set a Strong Platform

Every employee who joins your firm expects growth opportunities in his chosen field. To make

the employees feel they are investing their time and energy in a firm that has brilliant prospects,

you have to ensure that as a company head or HR manager, you share with the employees the

vision of the firm and its prospects. A thorough orientation lecture that welcomes new employees

and makes them feel like an integral part of the team is essential to boost their motivation and

performance.

Foster Positive Work Culture

An office that has stringent laws and working rules can be often stressful and monotonous for the

employees, thereby, creating negative work culture. One of the important employee motivation

techniques is to foster a work atmosphere where work is fun and employees have the flexibility

to share their views and ideas with the management. The company head and the HR team must

ensure that all employees feel worthwhile and are motivated at an individual level. A happy

office where every employee loves to work gives a boost to efficiency and performance. Read

more on employee motivation ideas.

As stated earlier, every employee that is a part of your firm expects to know the possibility of his

future by working in your firm especially, if your firm is a new venture that has existed for short

span of years. Most employees expect advanced opportunities and skills, once they're strong

enough in their basic working skills. For employee retention you've to ensure that you're working

with employees in improving their professional skills that are helpful for their career growth. 

At an individual level, every employee has different educational backgrounds and career

aspirations and HR managers have to ensure that they are able to communicate to the

employees that they have a bright future and the career development path leads to better

opportunities in the future. Helping employees through professional training programs and

workshop sessions is useful as their skills improve and they understand that the firm is investing

in them.

Reward Performers

Employee recognition on weekly, monthly and annual basis is one of the biggest employee

motivation techniques. Hosting award ceremonies and honoring employees who are outstanding,

very good and good performers helps to boost employee morale and they come out further to put

their extra efforts. For employees who are unable to perform, there can be meetings and

workshops to sharpen their skills further and understand the weak areas of their work. Read more

on tips for motivating employees.

These steps help in employee motivation to a large extent. Incentives and awards are always

praised by employees and since money is the biggest motivation for many employees,

performers can be given corporate perks and bonuses for their outstanding achievements.

Besides honoring the performers, you must also make the individual aware of his/her
contribution in improving the future of firm. This makes employees become like a part of the

team. Average performers must not be discouraged or criticized bluntly, instead they must be

helped to work better as this helps in improving employee morale.

Increase Employee Confidence

One of the secrets of employee motivation techniques is to delegate responsibilities and duties

to employees as per interests and confidence levels. Individuals who are particularly good at

certain task or love working in some field must be assigned the field of interest as that will

automatically boost their confidence and hence, performance.

Reward Good Performance: One the best ways of improving employee morale is by rewarding

good performance This can be done by giving performance appraisals, and also bonuses that

could be in the form of money, increase in the number of vacation days or other perks.

Appreciating one verbally in front of the whole work force can also be a big boost to an

employee's morale.

Good Communication: Employees work the best if they feel that they are valued in the

company. The best way to make them feel wanted in the organization is by communicating with

them. Listen to the employees' ideas and incorporate them if they suit the lines of the business.

Make them feel that they are an important part of the organization. Give feedback about their

work and provide them with suggestions to improve their performance. Also if the employees

seem worried or distressed, ask them the reason and see if you could help. Encourage

healthy workplace communication among employees.

Treat Employees with Respect: Disrespect shown at work place by the employer is a leading

cause of low employee morale. Reprimanding or criticizing an employee in a rude way is bound
to create a negative effect on an employee, more so if it is done in the presence of his co-

workers. Other employees also tend to lose respect for a senior who criticizes his employees in

public. Be polite and never forget to say 'thank you' and 'sorry' on appropriate occasions.

Celebrate Company Success: Integrate you employees in the organization by celebrating

company success with them. One can take the employees out to dinner, order for lunch in the

office or simply call everyone together and share the credit of the achievement with the

employees.

Stand Behind Your Employees: There might be times when one of the customers expresses

his dissatisfaction because he is not satisfied with the services provided by the company. It is

important to keep the customer happy but never never do that at the cost of your employees'

integrity. If the employee has followed the instructions of the company, take the situation in hand

and try to act in a way that would assuage the disgruntled customer. Whatever the case, never

scream or criticize your employee harshly even in front of the customer.

Create Pleasant Work Environment: An employee needs to concentrate and put in his best

when he is working. He won't be able to do this if the environment in which he is working is not

good. Ensure that the work place is clean, well lit and that the air conditioner is working
properly.

Check that there is clean drinking water available all the time and that proper hygiene is

maintained in the washrooms.

Exhibit Loyalty: Showing loyalty towards employees is one of the most effective ways to

improve employee morale. If the employer exhibits loyalty then the employees will feel more

confident and work harder. A good way of showing loyalty towards the employees is by

promoting from within the existing work force rather than hiring from external resources.

Avoid Layoffs: There is nothing worse than job insecurity that can mar the performance of an
employee. With the fear of losing employment, no worker can concentrate on his job. In case a

cutback is imperative, state in clear terms the reasons behind it. At the same time explain the

steps that the company is taking to safeguard the employment of the other employees.

Give Clear Directions: Giving clear directions and setting the priorities and communicating

these to the employees will help them to work properly and increase productivity. This will cause

less instances where an employee fails to meet the targets and expectations of the company,

and hence fewer chances of an untoward incident between the employee and the employer.

Get to Know your Employees: One of the best employee morale boosters is to know your

employees personally. Be aware if any family member is not well. Inquire about such a member

in particular. You could also generally ask about your employees' family as you pass by them in

the hall. Have occasions where the employees can bring along a family member. Celebrate

employee birthdays. While you celebrate your company's success or during any other informal

occasion, get to know your employees by holding competitions that would require to one to talk

about one's hobbies or display some talent other than those related to work.

Motivational- Tips on Improving Employee performance

The bottom line: You pay a heavy price when employees have motivation issues.

How then to light a fire under an employee who has lost his or her motivation, whether a former hard
worker whose performance has declined over the years, or a long-term problem employee who has
failed to improve?

Here are 10 useful pointers on getting your employees enthused, productive, and ready to give their
all:

• Build a foundation. It’s important to build a solid foundation for your employees so they
feel invested in the company. Tell them about the history of the business and your vision for
the future. Ask them about their expectations and career goals, as well as how you can help
them feel part of the team. When any new employee starts, make sure he or she receives a
thorough welcome orientation.

• Create a positive environment. Promote an office atmosphere that makes all employees
feel worthwhile and important. Don’t play favorites with your staff. Keep office doors open
 and let folks know they can always approach you with questions or concerns. A happy
office is a productive office.

• Put people on the right path. Most employees are looking for advancement opportunities
within their own company. Work with each of them to develop a career growth plan that
takes into consideration both their current skills and future goals. If employees become
excited about what’s down the road, they will become more engaged in their present work.

• Educate the masses. Help employees improve their professional skills by providing on-the-
job training or in-house career development. Allow them to attend workshops and seminars
related to the industry. Encourage them to attend adult education classes paid for by the
company. Employees will feel you are investing in them, and this will translate into an
improved job performance.

• Don’t forget the fun. Once in a while you have put work aside and do something nice for
the people who work for you. Treat the office to a pizza lunch or take everyone to the
movies. Reward employees with an unexpected day off or by closing the office early on a
random Friday afternoon.

• Acknowledge contributions. You can make a huge difference in employee morale simply
by taking the time to recognize each employee’s contributions and accomplishments, large
or small. Be generous with praise.

• Provide incentives. Offer people incentives to perform well, either with something small
like a gift certificate or something more substantial such as a performance-based bonus or
salary increase. Give out “Employee of the Month” awards. Such tokens of appreciation
will go far in motivating employees.

• Honor your promises. Getting people to give their all requires following through on
promises. If you tell an employee that he or she will be considered for a bonus if numbers
improve or productivity increases, you’d better put your money where your mouth is.
Failure to follow through on promises will result in a loss of trust -- not only that person’s
trust, but the trust of every employee that hears the story.
• Provide career coaching. Help employees reach the next level professionally by providing
on-site coaching. Bring in professionals to provide one-on-one counseling, which can help
people learn how to overcome personal or professional obstacles on their career paths

• Match tasks to talents. You can improve employee motivation by improving employee
confidence. Assign individuals with tasks you know they will enjoy or will be particularly
good at. An employee who is successful at one thing will have the self-confidence to tackle
other projects with renewed energy and excitement.
Improving Employee Productivity

It is conceivable for you to have more employees than the competition yet your company

produces less and for you to have disgruntled, low-output employees even though you pay your

employees more than the competition pays theirs. Productivity surveys and case studies indicate

that increased worker motivation and satisfaction can increase worker output. Progressive,

innovative managers now achieve productivity gains with human resource management

techniques that go beyond pay incentives.

This Guide discusses how to increase worker output by motivating with quality of work life
concepts and by tailoring benefits to meet the needs of employees. Cost: enlightened human

resource management probably costs no more than employee turnover (hiring and training new

employees), unwarranted pay increases, and low productivity. Benefit: better productivity; loyal,

efficient workers; higher quality work, and increased likelihood of staying in business.

The essence of employee motivation and effectiveness is the manner in which they are managed.

A direct relationship exists between effective management (i.e., providing a work environment

that simultaneously achieves company goals and employees' goals) and modern human resource

management.

Your management success is judged by your skill and knowledge in recognizing and assessing

issues that concern employees and by your ability to resolve these concerns with employee help

and satisfaction.

Do your employees know how you judge and measure their performance?

Do you provide and encourage individual development with training and educational

programs?

Do you trust your employees and rely upon their knowledge?

Do you let employees make decisions?

Do you have timely, accurate, open two-way communication with your employees?
If you answer no to all of these questions, you probably are an unsatisfactory human resource

manager and have (or will have) employee-productivity problems.

Quality of Work Life

Getting high quality job performance from your employees depends on giving employees

opportunities for their personal growth, achievement, responsibility, recognition, and reward.

Pay - money - is the primary need and reward. Once the compensation (pay and benefits) is

established properly, it is necessary to use other means to further motivate and improve your

work force's output. The basis of all job enhancement efforts is your recognition of employees'

desire to do good work, to assume responsibility, to achieve and to succeed.