{"id":113865,"date":"2023-09-26T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T15:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=113865"},"modified":"2023-10-03T11:08:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T15:08:16","slug":"motivate-employees-as-a-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/motivate-employees-as-a-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Motivate Employees as a Manager: 3 Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How should you motivate employees as a manager? What two types of motivation<\/a> are people driven by?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To run an empowered team<\/a>, you need to keep your employees motivated. To do this, figure out what drives them individually and keeps them engaged in their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how to be a motivating leader at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Motivate Your Employees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In The First-Time Manager<\/em>, Jim McCormick recommends several ways to motivate employees<\/a> as a manager:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method #1: Align individual and company goals.<\/strong> Motivation varies from person to person, so McCormick recommends getting to know your employees\u2019 goals, whether they\u2019re interested in learning a new skill or networking with more people. To inspire them to do their best work, try to match their goals with those of the company\u2014for instance, if they want to learn a particular skill, offer them training or mentorship opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Promoting your employee\u2019s goals in a way that benefits the overall organization also improves employee retention. Research shows that the main reason employees quit their jobs<\/a> is because they feel they\u2019re not growing or developing. One way to align employee goals and company needs is to transfer or promote them to a role that matches their goals<\/a>. If this isn\u2019t viable, try to provide them with education, exposure, or experience opportunities\u2014offer courses or workshops, assign them mentors, or give them opportunities to practice skills they\u2019re interested in.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method #2: Share positive outcomes. <\/strong>People enjoy contributing to something bigger than themselves. Showing how their efforts contribute to a positive outcome gives their work more meaning and motivates them to work hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method #3: Give rewards.<\/strong> Rewards show people that their performance and efforts matter and are therefore a great motivator for employees. You should not only reward successful endeavors, McCormick writes, but also thoughtful and well-executed ones that don\u2019t succeed. This encourages people to take innovative risks instead of playing it safe to avoid failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boost Your Employees\u2019 Intrinsic Motivation<\/a><\/strong>

In Drive<\/em><\/a>, Daniel H. Pink explains that people are driven by two types of motivation\u2014extrinsic and intrinsic<\/a>. Extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards, such as money or recognition. Conversely, intrinsic motivation is based on internal satisfaction, such as purpose or enjoyment. Pink says intrinsic motivation is more powerful and self-sustaining, leading to better performance in the long run.

Sharing positive outcomes aligns with one element of intrinsic motivation: purpose. Like McCormick, Pink notes that humans are biologically wired to want to contribute to a cause that reaches beyond themselves. He writes that you can enhance this sense of purpose<\/a> when sharing positive outcomes by using words that reflect meaningful ideals<\/a> like \u201chonor\u201d or \u201cbeauty\u201d as opposed to less inspiring words like \u201cvalue\u201d or \u201cdifferentiation.\u201d For example, if you\u2019re leading a marine conservation team, you might discuss how your efforts have restored the beauty of coral reefs.

Rewards, on the other hand, are external motivators. Pink argues that most rewards actually decrease<\/em> performance<\/a> because they reduce people\u2019s sense of autonomy. Once people start doing things for external rewards, they feel less in control of their lives and subconsciously reason that they don\u2019t enjoy the task if they\u2019re getting compensated for it. To reward people without depleting their motivation<\/a>, Pink suggests giving unexpected rewards once the task has already been completed.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How should you motivate employees as a manager? What two types of motivation are people driven by? To run an empowered team, you need to keep your employees motivated. To do this, figure out what drives them individually and keeps them engaged in their work. Here’s how to be a motivating leader at work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":21198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,14],"tags":[1273],"class_list":["post-113865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-management","tag-the-first-time-manager","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Motivate Employees as a Manager: 3 Methods - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Part of your job as a leader is encouraging team members through easy and hard times. 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