Tunnicliffe Hunt reveals how enterprises can hold on to valued employees through increased motivation levels and productive feedback.

Fact: the main reason employees quit their jobs is dissatisfaction with their current work environment with 81% of all job seekers claiming the issue as their primary motivator. Thirty-nine percent also state their manager/direct supervisor and how they manage has a strong impact on how they feel about their current job.

Such figures are a genuine cause for concern and will make any responsible manager ask: “How do I ensure that my own valued employees remain satisfied and motivated?”. It’s why Tunnicliffe Hunt has put together this guide that reveals how motivation levels and feedback are key to ensuring valued staff never feel the urge to move on.

Motivation matters

Motivated employees play a crucial role in the success of any business. For example, studies show that offices with engaged, motivated employees are 43% more productive. Motivated staff also have lower levels of absenteeism and turnover, and can improve industry relations as well as product quality and customer service. Critically, motivated employees can help increase a company’s reputation within its sector, in turn making it easier to source new staff as the business grows.

But how do you actually ‘motivate’? First, it’s important to understand that people are motivated in two different ways – extrinsically and intrinsically. Extrinsic motivation is where the individual performs an activity to earn a reward or to avoid punishment. Intrinsic motivation is where the individual performs an activity for its own sake and personal reward.

Whether a person is extrinsically or intrinsically motivated can have a direct impact on how their motivation levels can be increased in the workplace. For example, external rewards for intrinsically-motivated employees can actually decrease their performance!

Modelling motivation

To uncover how to make a job more motivating, organisational psychologists J. Richard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham developed the ‘Job Characteristics Model of Work Motivation’ in 1975, a model still used in occupational psychology today. It was tested on 658 employees in seven different organisations across 62 different jobs and offered a series of conclusive findings.

These included identifying the five core job characteristics that are vital to a motivated workforce:

skill variety • skill identity • skill significance • autonomy • feedback

The model demonstrated that addressing all five areas resulted in higher internal work motivation and increased growth and job satisfaction plus stronger work effectiveness. In other words, all traits that are highly desirable within any workforce.

The power of feedback

According to Hackman and Oldham, feedback is the degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the employee’s job provides the individual with information about the effectiveness of their performance. This ensures that the employee is fully aware of the success (or failure) of his performance, making him learn from his mistakes. He will also find more meaning in his work through increased emotional attachment to its outcome.

Letting the employee know how they are performing allows them to learn and grow. Companies that regularly give employees feedback experience 14% lower turnover rates. You may argue that employees prefer hearing positive feedback about their work but studies have shown that 82% of employees appreciate feedback regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. In fact, 65% of employees want to be given more feedback so the only logical conclusion is to give more – but how?

Giving feedback correctly

It’s a tough one for managers – 37% of executives are uncomfortable with giving negative feedback while 20% of leaders are uncomfortable even recognising an employee’s achievement.

To implement a feedback programme, start by giving the feedback immediately after an event has taken place and be specific about what you liked or didn’t like. This helps maintain and even improve an employee’s self-esteem.

Second, you should link their behaviour directly back to the goals of the company and show how their performance affected you, the team or the business. This will underline to the employee that they can make a real difference to the company, which many will find motivating.

For positive feedback, try this approach:

“Sue, you did a good job helping Mr. Smith this morning. It was a difficult subject, but you stayed nice and polite and answered his questions quickly and thoroughly. By serving our clients well, they will want to come back to us, and recommend us to their friends and family. Satisfied customers are the key to more turnover in the company. Thank you very much and keep up the good work.”

Negative feedback, on the other hand, can be delivered like this:

“Sue, I know we’re all busy right now. But coming to meetings late causes problems because we have to stop the meeting to bring the late starter up to speed. This consumes valuable time and interrupts the flow. I would like you to be on time for future team meetings. Can you do that for me?”

Dealing with the negative

A popular approach for delivering negative feedback is the ‘Oreo cookie’ method. Here, you layer negative feedback in between positive comments: start with praise, then communicate the criticism, and finish with more praise combined with an underlining of future expectations.

However, there are conflicting opinions about this method; while it can turn the criticism into simple corrections and may soften the blow, some believe that it actually sends out mixed messages and gives little actual guidance. We recommend deciding for yourself whether the method is appropriate on a situation-by-situation basis.

Whichever approach you decide to take, always aim to give specific examples of areas that require improvement plus offer concrete steps for how to improve so the employee knows where to begin.

Making feedback productive

Finally, always give productive feedback. Employees who receive feedback only apply it about 30% of the time if the person doesn’t feel comfortable, so make sure to be positive and add civility and safety into your feedback. Create opportunities for your employee to build up their confidence and skills.

Feedback is not considered productive if its only purpose is to make the other person feel bad. Yes, be tough but don’t be mean; ask the employee for their perspective on the situation prior to giving them feedback and finish by asking if they understand everything you have said – and underlining what you expect from them in the future.

5 Tips on How to Motivate Employees Properly

To motivate your employees, use the following techniques:

1. Set realistic goals

It is important to give employees the opportunity to achieve both individual and group goals. Make sure that performance standards are high – but attainable. Conversely, a goal that is too easy to reach risks demotivating the employee, in turn lowering their performance.

Use the SMART rule (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) for setting objectives that will get buy-in from employees. Then breakdown how each employee will help you achieve the goals that have been set. Finally, ask your employees if they understand what you expect from them.

2. Show interest in employees

Learn what your people want as each employee will have different motivations and attitudes. Actively listen to them to learn what they want from their careers and their views on work/life balance. Also ask them about their family and what they like doing in their free time as this helps them feel valued.

By finding out why they are motivated to work, you not only learn more about your employee but also how you can improve their motivation levels.

3. Recognise employees

Research shows that a recognition programme can increase employee performance by up to 44% when deployed over the longterm. That said, even a one-week program can increase performance by 20%.

Such a programme can be created using several techniques. First, officially recognise their achievements and give praise; about 30% of employees say they prefer such motivational techniques. Monetary awards are preferred by 18% of employees. However, they are often forgotten and can lack the ‘trophy value’. Instead, reward great performances based on your employees’ interests. For instance, the bookworm might love the latest bestseller while the music fanatic will appreciate an iTunes gift card.

Recognition should also include feedback – simple but powerful words that show you appreciate your employees. Try saying ‘thank you’, ‘please’, ‘you’re doing a great job’, etc. to show that you value their work.

4. Provide autonomy

High-performing employees don’t appreciate a manager who watches every little thing they do. This affects intrinsically motivated employees in your team in particular. Instead, allowing high levels of autonomy tends to result in increased job satisfaction and motivation levels. Autonomy can also create an increased experienced responsibility of the outcomes of the work, which improves the overall quality of how the work was performed.

Employee autonomy can be increased in several ways. For example, provide opportunities for employees to make their own choices and have input into decision making. Even within structured guidance and boundaries, encourage self-initiated behaviours and self-ownership over goals. Additionally, avoid the use of controls that restrain autonomy – for instance, overly controlling the employee’s behaviour to attain the desired job outcome. Letting them adhere strictly to what a job procedures manual provides will not make them feel responsible at all.

5. Use training and development

Another way to motivate employees, especially intrinsically motivated staff, is to focus on their development. In fact, 20% of employees say career development opportunities and training makes them feel more engaged with their work.

Talk to employees about the changes they want to make to help increase their productivity, and offer them training in management development, team building opportunities or implementing a new method for employee onboarding (a subject Tunnicliffe Hunt will be covering in its next Insights blog post).

The bottom line

Motivating and giving feedback may seem simple but both will have an enormous impact on your employees. As well as increasing their happiness and satisfaction levels at work, they will become more productive and efficient and less likely to think about changing job – which is good news for you and your company.

However, if you should ever find yourself in need of a new employee as your company grows, contact global recruitment agency Tunnicliffe Hunt here to discuss how we can help you find your ideal candidate.