If you have seen the television show Duck Dynasty, you are familiar with the lack of work ethic that the duck hunters bring to their office. They are always seen sitting at their work stations joking around and their boss, Willie is always walking in on them talking and asking them to be productive. Now, I understand that this is a show, and the crew’s main purpose is to just entertain the audience, but I think it is a funny example of why business owners need to keep employees motivated and productive. The two basically go hand in hand: if your employees aren’t motivated, then they won't be productive.
So to help, I have listed 7 ways you can motivate your employees to increase productivity!
1. Incentives: Offer a reward to your employees if they complete certain goals. Guarantee their goals will be reached much faster than they normally would be! For example, at PayHub, we are currently offering a $25 gift card to our employees if they sell one of our new services to an existing client, and they are really excited to win it!
2. Let lose! Get out of the office! Have an office party for occasions such as holidays, retirement, if your company is launching a new website (like we did!), BBQs, or birthdays. Don’t have the space to throw a party? It’s just as refreshing to get out of the office for a day or half day and do a fun team building activity with your staff. For example, we have gone mini-golfing, on a river boat cruise and to a Rock Cats baseball game! Giving your employees a break from their normal routine is refreshing so they will come back the next morning ready to be productive!
3. Positive Recognition: Do you have incredibly awesome employees who do great things every day for your company? Brag about it! Recognize an individual if they did something extra-outstanding at work. This will make them feel appreciated and proud to do what they do. PayHub gives ‘Shout Outs’ in our morning Playbook where we all meet to go over our daily goals. This is the perfect time to recognize something remarkable that a teammate did!
4. Brain Food: Keep some yummy (and healthy) snacks in your office kitchen that employees are free to take to fuel their brains during the times of the day where they are in a slump. A little pick me up goes a long way! In PayHub’s GrubHub, we keep granola bars, oatmeal packets, pretzels, popcorn and popsicles to keep our employees from going hungry!
5. Show that you care: Every day try to connect with each employee briefly, taking a genuine interest in how they are doing that day, or what their weekend plans are, etc. An employee who feels like they are truly cared about will be even more satisfied with their job, increasing motivation.
6. Change how they work: Increase productivity by changing the physical position they work in, especially if they sit at a desk all day long. Give them a project that they can do while standing because that has been known to be a more productive way to work. In an episode of Duck Dynasty, Wille took away his worker’s chairs and low tables and replaced them with high tables that they had to stand at to see if this would increase the speed of their work.
7. Allow time to stretch! Everyone needs a few minutes to clear their head and get away from their desk. Allow your employees a 15 minute break to go for a walk outside each day! This encourages exercise and helps them recharge their energy.
