Tip # 402: 20 Ways to Motivate Someone Without Spending Money (Part 1 of 2)

As many businesses face economic challenges, more and more employers are looking for unique ways to keep their staff motivated without spending a ton of money. If you are in the same position, then you might find this e-tip of particular interest. 

More Money Does NOT Equal Happier Employees. 

Unfortunately, many novice managers feel the more money you

pay someone, the happier they will be. Although a solid and reasonable compensation plan is critical to attracting and keeping

key personnel, paying more money is not always the only answer, and in many cases, not even the best answer. To help you keep your employees happy, we have listed below 10 of 20 tips that will help you keep your team satisfied.  

Motivate Your Employees Without Raising Their Pay (part 1 of 2):

1.     Leadership Position - Give deserving people a leadership role to reward their performance and develop their leadership skills...even if it is for a temporary project. A great place to start is to give a person a leadership role by allowing them to lead a meeting.

2.     Provide A Career/Learning Path - Most people need to know that there is a potential opportunity for growth. Be sure to tell people that the policy is to promote from within.  Doing so will send a positive message to everyone that advanced career opportunities can come from within the organization.

3.     A Nice Working Environment - It is no surprise that a recent industry study revealed  employees rank good working conditions high on their list of "must haves;" therefore, you must take the overall working environment seriously.

4.     One-On-One Mentoring - Internal mentoring is a free employee development program that costs only time. When mentoring someone, it is important to provide positive feedback during both one-on-one sessions as well as in public. Whenever you recognize and encourage employees in public, it acts as a positive shot-in-the-arm for others who are close enough to hear what is taking place.

5.     Create A Team Mentality - The fastest way to make this happen is to take a picture of your entire staff - do not forget to include yourself. After the picture is taken, you need to hang it in a visible spot. Psychology professionals have confirmed most people like to see themselves as part of a team and value an image of reference.

6.     Provide Training - Internal training sessions enhance the performance and productivity of your staff. We often suggest "tune-up" training sessions after regular training sessions to reinforce the content taught. We also recommend that you involve employees who have an aptitude in what is being taught in the training process.

7.     Recognize Your Employees - When someone has accomplished something, your recognition is critical to reinforcing the positive side of things. If you do not give enough recognition, you are missing out on the most inexpensive form of reinforcement.

8.     Special Ovation - An easy, but effective method of motivating someone is to give a round of applause for certain achievements. You can do this at meetings, company-sponsored social gatherings, at luncheons, or just in the office.

9.     Job Titles - When you consider a job title for an employee, be creative. Ask your staff to give you their input for the correct title of a position. The right title is important and allows a person to feel proud of their position at the company - but be careful not to have just one department handing out huge titles, as it will be counterproductive for others at your company.

10.  Immediate Praise For Doing Something Good - When there is a reason for praising someone, do not put it off. In fact, we recommend that you look for someone doing something good now, and praise them; after all, immediacy equals effectiveness. 

Executive Summary: As you can see, there are many ways to motivate your employees that will not tax your payroll's budget. You can implement one, or all of these tips, at little to no cost to your business or department. Moreover, by keeping your employees motivated, you will see an increase in productivity and employee retention. 

P.S. Next week's e-tip will have 10 more tips to motivate employees.

For more information, visit our website!