A common dilemma among small business owners revolves around how to motivate employees. While some business have bigger budgets and can do more to motivate their employees, there are also ways you can motivate employees without breaking the bank.

While it’s true that the best employees are easier to poach if they are underpaid, it is also true that money only goes so far when it comes to motivation in the workplace. This we know from experience.

Well then, if money isn’t the silver bullet of team motivation, what are the best ways to motivate employees? Here’s the thing: just as not everybody learns the same way, all are not motivated by the same things. A little research on motivating employees often invokes the important concept of employee engagement, which describes the quality of the relationship between an organization and its employees.

We will zero in on three key components of staff motivation: involvement, enrichment, and appreciation.

How to Motivate Employees

Employee Involvement

Imagine growing yourself a management staff without hiring another employee. That’s the essence of employee involvement. By involving your employees in the decision-making process, without giving them the wheel entirely, you avail to them a greater stake in the business while teaching them how the process works within your organization. At the same time, you avail yourself to their insights and opinions. It’s a win-win arrangement that has the potential to improve over time.

Job Enrichment

The concept of job enrichment is related to employee involvement but is more employee-specific in its application. In general terms, an employee who demonstrates the ability and drive to go beyond the parameters of their current role can be assigned additional responsibilities that are not a part of their current job description. Doing this demonstrates an understanding that the team member is performing above and beyond their current situation and rewards them by expanding the depth of their role.

Again this is a win-win because you are grooming a promising team member for a greater role in your organization while at the same time demonstrating that you are doing so, perhaps giving them the motivation to stick around and work toward that mutually beneficial end.

Employee Appreciation

Employee appreciation is exactly what it sounds like. When an employee does well or goes above and beyond the scope of their role in the organization, you recognize the fact and allow your team to share in the recognition.

If the team as a whole does something noteworthy, such as smashing a weekly production goal or earning the praise of a difficult customer, you recognize and, if appropriate, celebrate that achievement together. Whether you celebrate a victory or discuss a failing, for the sake of the team, do so sincerely.

How Spring-Green Supports Employees

For the record, we use the term motivation to include that which not only makes a team member stick around but also drives them to perform. Over the past four-plus decades, Spring-Green has grown from a modest local business to a national franchise organization. The concepts that we have described here have been developed and proven within the function and scope of our business model. Does this topic interest you as a small business owner? Call 1-800-777-8608 or visit us at www.growmygreenindustrybusiness.com to learn more.