EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION

How To Keep Employees Motivated: 6 Strategies for Success

At Rippl, we’re all about creating exceptional workplace cultures that enable businesses and their people to thrive. From desk-based teams to frontline heroes, we believe in inspiring, connecting and rewarding every person so they feel they truly matter in delivering measurable impact for their business. We also know every business is brilliantly unique – and so are its people. When it comes to keeping employees motivated, strategies for success will look different across each organisation. That’s why we’re here to explore 6 different approaches for businesses to adopt, that meaningfully address this diversity, and empower employees to deliver their full potential.

6 Strategies To Keep Your Employees Motivated

Bearing in mind the diversity of needs across a workforce – from head office to shop floor, office or remote teams – let’s dive into 6 strategies employers of all industries can implement within their business to maximise employee engagement, and therefore enhance overall productivity, retention and commercial success.

1. Prioritise open communication

Despite 60% of businesses lacking an effective and long-term internal communications plan, this  is one of the most important elements to successful employee motivation and engagement. For employees at every level, wherever they are based, when they feel informed and that they are part of the overall business journey, they’re much more likely to embrace and support it. Communication routes should remain diverse and modernised, reaching desk-based colleagues and those working on the frontline – so a dedicated and mobile-accessible space is key for hosting important news and updates. This also, in turn, brings more dispersed or remote teams closer together in a community where they not only feel informed, they feel they belong.

So, how can businesses achieve this?

Dedicate a centralised communication strategy.

Particularly in businesses that have a workforce spread across diverse settings, from a central office to delivery depots and production warehouses, finding a one-size-fits-all approach to clear and consistent communication can be challenging. For these employers particularly, it may be challenging to find a fair strategy between those who will naturally receive updates and news in-person and those who are more disconnected due to the requirements of their role. Therefore, a mobile-accessible platform is key for centralising all internal communications – from company news, to the latest incentives and rewards. This way, employees receive everything, all at once, from their pockets.

2. Invest in employees’ development and performance

Learning and development is incredibly important to many employees, and a key predictor of their motivation and loyalty to their business – latest research shows nearly a quarter (23%) of those who left a role within their first 6 months report having clear progression and development guidelines would have influenced them to stay. That’s because many of us are more motivated when given clear goals and expectations to meet, and granted corresponding rewards for our contributions and achievements.

How can employers effectively put this into practice?

Set clear goals and incentives.

Effective incentivisation can be delivered on both an individual and group level. When employees are clear on what they need to achieve and in what timeframe, they’re incentivised to acquire additional reward and in doing so, enhance their productivity and outputs within their role. Even better, when employees are able to visibly track their progress against target, it creates a strong sense of purpose and direction in their day-to-day, which in turn significantly enhances their motivation and engagement at work.

3. Create an inclusive working environment

Research continues to establish the significant influence inclusion has on people and business performance. There are many factors which contribute to employees’ positive working experience from sense of community with colleagues and belonging in the business, to feeling meaningfully supported in their health and wellbeing, to feeling recognised and rewarded for their contribution to the business. All of which create an inclusive workplace that values its people, and as a result, motivates and engages them within their roles. Importantly, an inclusive workplace views its employees as individuals, rather than a collective, and champions their unique needs to be their best self both in- and outside of work.

So, what contributes to an inclusive workplace?

Holistically empower employee wellbeing

Beyond their salary and any performance-related bonuses, employees are most motivated when they feel supported holistically. By investing in a rewards and benefits package that delivers this, teams are far more likely to maximise their potential and remain within the business. Perks should be tailored to what employees want and need to be their best, and champion wellbeing at work – such as professional development, flexible working and mental health support – as well as in their personal lives – such as lifestyle discounts, financial wellbeing support, private healthcare and travel savings.

4. Be clear on business values and purpose

Similarly to setting clear goals, employers should be equally as clear on the overall business mission, purpose and values to motivate and engage their people. Research shows over half (55%) of employees report they would resign from a new role if the business’ culture did not align with their personal values. This is key for creating cultural cohesion across the business, with existing employees and future hires mutually sharing their employer’s purpose and progressing to achieve the same goals.

How can employers bring their culture and values to life?

Embed values into employees’ day-to-day

For employees to be engaged and motivated by their company’s purpose, they first need to understand this. And this means businesses need to go beyond just including their values in the new starter handbook or printing their mission on the office wall. Culture isn’t just something to be seen, employees need to feel this within their day-to-day, and contextualise how they represent the core business values in their roles. Through effective internal communications, as well as culture-led recognition and reward strategies, employers can ensure their employees are motivated by a shared purpose to achieve great things.

5. Give everyone a voice

An often overlooked yet significant driver behind employee motivation and engagement is the power of amplifying employees’ voices, feedback and ideas. When employees feel their voices are heard and they have an active say in business decisions, regardless of their seniority, they are far more likely to deliver their potential at work. Plus, research shows 41% of employees who didn’t feel they were listened to left their role – proving this to also be a crucial retention factor. Similarly, open feedback from employees at every level plays a fundamental role in business innovation.

What are some of the ways to amplify voices across a business?

Gather multi-level feedback

Often, employee feedback is perceived to be (and often can be!) a lengthy, time-consuming and manual process of distributing 50-question engagement surveys. However, this places unnecessary demand on HR teams to manage and analyse, and takes a lot of time out of employees’ day to day to complete. Instead, feedback loops should be kept agile and modernised – these can range from a quick temperature check via a live poll, to a short and dynamic survey, to a dedicated zone for idea submissions across the business to keep ideas and innovations flowing.

6. Recognise and reward

Feeling undervalued and overlooked significantly damages employees’ motivation and engagement. But, more than 80% of teams say this improves when they’re recognised at work. Particularly for deskless or frontline teams, the recognition gap widens with 51% feeling expendable to their employer and 32% feeling regarded as inferior to their desk-based peers. Prioritising effective and meaningful recognition and reward is crucial for empowering employees, wherever they are based, to thrive in their business, growing their role fulfilment by 285% and enhancing their potential by 378%.

Adopt an agile and multi-level approach

Traditional approaches to recognition are often limited, with employers focusing exclusively on job role performance alone, when employees’ contributions and the value they bring extends to so much more than this. In this article, we explore 14 powerful examples of recognition – this should be open to both managers and peers, and celebrate not only exceeded individual KPIs, but team shared successes, culture champions, service milestones and internal award nominations, with meaningful rewards elevating recognition even further where appropriate. When teams feel seen, heard and valued at work, their motivation and engagement soars.

The Bottom Line

At Rippl, we pride ourselves on motivating and engaging teams across the globe with human-led approaches that meaningfully inspire, connect and reward the great things happening within businesses every day.

We partner with leading brands to:

  • Enable every person to thrive, from head office to the frontline with their very own company-branded, all-in-one engagement app available on desktop, iOS and Android.
  • Build genuine connections across every corner of their workforce through market-leading recognition and global rewards.
  • Streamlines their existing benefits package into your platform or tailor a hand-picked offer from our extensive benefits and discounts catalogue.
  • Customises every corner of their programme with wider engagement features including employee feedback, idea management, award nominations, community groups and incentives so every person feels they truly matter.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Every business is brilliantly unique – and so are their people. Everyone is motivated in different ways and so a one-size-fits-all approach will be ineffective. First and foremost, businesses need to understand what makes their teams tick and implement a multi-level engagement strategy that reflects this across rewards, feedback loops, development opportunities, wellbeing support and more.

There are many reasons why employees might feel demotivated in their roles. Often, this stems from a range of factors which lead teams to feel undervalued, overlooked or unheard within the business, leading to disengagement and attrition. When businesses adopt a strategy that truly values employees, understands their needs and listens to understand what does and doesn’t motivate them, they can create a culture which empowers everyone to reach their potential.

It’s important to tailor this to what motivates each team. Gather insights on an individual and departmental level as to what inspires them at work and what, to them, makes a great business to work for. Frequent feedback loops are incredibly important to understand where the gaps are in your current approach and what teams need more of to be their best selves at work.

Incentives and rewards boost motivation by providing clear goals, enhancing purpose, tracking progress, and increasing productivity, all of which elevates engagement and motivates enhanced performance. Ensuring incentive schemes and corresponding rewards are meaningful and tailored to teams and individuals is key for success.

Clear and consistent communication across the workforce is fundamental to enhancing engagement and inspiring motivation, from head office to shop floor. In today’s modern workforce, investing in a mobile-accessible communications platform can help keep everyone informed and engaged with company updates, incentives, and rewards.

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