There’s a huge difference between “good” employees and great ones. The great ones go the extra mile, without ever being asked and never for recognition. You’ll even notice that they express continued enthusiasm and positivity and truly improve your office’s culture; i.e. when they are on vacation or out sick, you miss their presence. While having these types of employees are, well, great, we ask ourselves, how can we get all of our employees to be like them? In one word: love.
Now, we don’t mean to tell your employees that you love them. But, in order to get the results you want out of each one of them, they need to feel both valued and appreciated. There has been a shift as to what determines employee happiness; it once was a result of what the employee did outside of work (hobbies and time spent with their families) and now it’s overall happiness with their life (turns out, we really can’t “shut off” parts of our life, i.e. work).
Surprisingly enough, our employee’s paychecks rank no higher than fifth in importance. This truism isn’t just here in the United States, but in every industrialized country. In fact, what truly motivates how engaged your employee is at work is “emotional currency.” Let’s define what that means:
- Doing work that your employees enjoy (and puts their talents to use)
- Having a supervisor or boss that cares about their employees
- Routinely showing appreciation for your employees
- Having our employees feel connected (as teammates) with supervisors/ bosses
So, if, often times, you scratch your head asking, “Why aren’t my employees more motivated?” You may have to ask yourself this question— “Are you showing them the love?” Let’s face it; in all reality, would you put 110% into anything you didn’t feel appreciated for? Neither would we. Try for yourself; you will be shocked with what appreciation will get you in life.
