New year staff motivation methods

Haven’t noticed that new year spark in your staff? Post Christmas blues?
Bad staff or just good staff completely burnt out?

Lets not forget the stress that your staff can be under over the holiday period and during the day to day running of the business. Computer glitches, deadlines, heavy workloads, large scale assignments, an empty ball point pen, a squeaky chair, unwelcome personas and the amount of caffeine consumed during the working day can all add up to an unmotivated, stressed out, uninspired workforce, and an un stimulated workforce is not going to get the job done right.

So your work force definitely need an Al Pacino ‘Any Given Sunday’ style pep talk; but how are you going to deliver your own?

Firstly show your staff that you care about them and their stress levels, maybe meet with them individually or in small groups to discuss their work demands and priorities, help your staff asses the importance of each task and not have them believing everything has to be done at once.

From sitting down with your staff you may become aware of issues or problems within the workflow or business that you may not have been previously aware of.

Lead by example and focus on the bright side, put the positive over negative. Be realistic and be aware of negatives but identify the positives and attempt to redefine the issue, encourage the same outlook from your staff.

Give your staff enough freedom to comfortably go out for lunch or take short breaks to refresh and be better prepared for the challenges of the day.

Training, developing skills and staying on top of technological and sector trends boosts employees confidence, enthusiasm and also their quality of work.

Support your staff, cheer them on. Praise and acknowledgment will boost confidence, enthusiasm and drive your staff. Acknowledge busy periods and encourage your staff.

Most staff are well aware of corporate models and slogans for improving business and staff performance and sometimes such attempts can be considered condescending which can results in staff automatically shutting down to any attempts at implementing them.

Energising staff and boosting morale should not be implementing a model every couple of years, it should be an ongoing everyday task that will sure enough result in better workflow and a more productive work force.