Motivation In The Workplace – Part I

Motivation in the workplace is essential to maintaining a productive and happy work atmosphere. Such an atmosphere not only benefits managers and business owners in terms of increased output and profits, it also benefits your employees since motivated employees are content employees. Successful managers realize that companies rise and fall based on the strength and happiness of their employees, so they are always looking for ways to boost and maintain motivation in the workplace.

Unfortunately many managers fail to realize just how fragile motivation in the workplace truly is. One day your workplace could be functioning as a smooth, well-oiled machine and the next day some silly little incident or misperception can virtually destroy all you have built! Although that statement might seem like an exaggeration to spice up this article, I assure you I've seen it happen multiple times.

Having worked as both a business owner and a human resources manager (and I still do, by the way), I've seen folks with great intentions seriously harm the morale of their teams. What is most shocking is that none of these managers actually intended to offend their team – they knew that motivation in the workplace is key, and the way to achieve that is by keeping their teams happy. In fact sometimes the managers never said a thing that could have been misconstrued!

And there lies the crux of the problem… they didn't say a thing. Inaction can be just as devastating, if not more so, to your workplace than taking the wrong action. Employees must feel that their manager is watching their back and working to promote their best interests for them to remain highly motivated. The moment even one member of your team feels neglected he or she will start spreading their discontent to others. Have you heard the adage, "Misery loves company?" It's absolutely true.

When one employee starts grumbling it can create a chain reaction that will affect even your best employees. The grumbler might not turn your loyal employees against you, but their morale will take a hit even if they put on a brave face for you. I am about to use an extreme and ugly example to help illustrate this point, but bear with me because I think it's necessary to show the impact that unhappiness can have on your employees.

Picture a child that deeply loves both of his parents. Like your good employees, he doesn't have a preference for one side or the other (peers or managers) – he loves both. But the parents are at odds with each other and scream at each other daily, spitting out venomous hostility. None of this hostility is directed specifically at the child (your good employee), but how do you think the child will feel watching those he loves and trusts shouting at each other? It can scar the child for life.

Now chances are extremely low the discontent of one employee will psychologically scar your good employees, but the factual foundation remains the same: no one likes to witness misery! Even if they try and isolate themselves from it – not choose sides – it will still affect them. It's inevitable.

Okay, so we've learned that motivation in the workplace is dependent on communication and employee happiness. Now we have to figure out exactly how to know when a seed of discontent is sprouting in your midst so that it can be addressed before it spreads, and that's exactly what we'll do in Part II of Motivation In The Workplace.