Discussions

Figure 1. Motivation: Makes things happen.

Realistically speaking, the duties at work can be most of the time tedious, repetitive and quite boring. Most of us don’t go to work excited that we’re going to have another day in which we’ll respond to dozens of emails, complete a pile of Excel spreadsheets, or other tasks which fall into the dullness category.
With that in mind, managers need to find creative ways in which to consistently keep their employees motivated as
much as possible. Motivation is highly important for every company due to the benefits that it’s able to bring.

4. Discussion

Measuring employee motivation is often a challenging prospect as motivation is a qualitative, rather than quantitative, value. In other words, it cannot be easily

measured with numbers or statistics. Unless your business is the type that uses targets and sales incentives, you can often estimate the motivation of your employee with the use of surveys and questionnaires, directed to the employee and the customer.

1. 
   While employee productivity is not necessarily the same as employee motivation, it can give you a good estimate of the amount of effort your employee is putting into the business.
   
2. 
   Conduct a survey of your employees. Specifically, ask them how much they care about the business' success. According to Personnel Today, an employee who cares more about the success of the business is more likely to be more motivated in his or her daily tasks. Use a third-party service for this kind of survey, as employees may not give you a completely honest answer if you ask them yourself.
   
3. 
   A highly motivated employee will likely result in more satisfied customers than that of an employee with less motivation. Conduct the survey either yourself or with the use of a specialized survey company, but ask customers about their experiences while they are still fresh. The longer you wait, the less accurate your result.
   
4. 
   Determine a job candidate's motivation at the interview stage. Ask about a previous project the candidate was engaged in, focusing on specific steps he took to complete the project, improvements he made along the way, and the level of satisfaction he had with the work. By doing this, you can assess an individual's motivation level in performing a specific type of work.
   
5. 
   Provide a questionnaire asking employees whether they feel their training and overall level of preparation for their jobs have been adequate. Many employees will not volunteer this information on their own because they believe a lack of training places their job at risk
   
6. 
   Examine your own expectations for your people. It's a studied and measured fact that people tend to perform up -- or down -- to their expected performance levels. This phenomenon is known as the Pygmalion Effect. Ask yourself if, as a manager, you aren't inadvertently causing some people to feel less motivated by giving them soft tasks or failing to solicit their feedback on important matters.
   
7. 
   Ask employees during their review sessions what their five-year career plans are. This can help you gauge a particular employee's level of motivation. For example, if an employee states she's comfortable where she is, this indicates low motivation to advance her career. Conversely, if that same person says she wants your job, take that as a positive in terms of engagement.
   
8. 
   Observe how often employees come to you with questions about their roles and tasks. Proactive engagement shows initiative and a desire to please.
   
9. 
   Another way of finding out if employees are satisfied at work is by conducting a one-on-one review with them as management need to focus on individuals and their specific needs.
   
10. 
    Create a platform to allow you and your team voices to amplify.
    

Allow team to speak up to express an opinion. In today’s workplace where ‘Yes-men’ (and women) are all too plentiful, people who are willing to stick their neck out and question the status quo thinking not only add more value, but become more valuable for everyone.