Help – how do I motivate my team

I am often asked by store managers and owners when I run training courses, “how do I motivate my staff?” This is the $50 million dollar question – if I could bottle and sell doses of motivation I’d be living on a yacht in the Bahamas!! How to motivate staff is always going to be a challenge and here’s why.

My reply to anyone who asks me the question of how to motivate someone is to respond with – “who is the only person that can motivate you?” The answer obviously is themselves. No-one can motivate you if you don’t want them to, you have to be in the right frame of mind to be motivated.

So motivation comes from within, yet some owners/managers are very good at providing an environment where by their staff feel motivated. Staff will do anything for their boss, and they perform when the boss is there or not. How do you get your staff to feel like this? After all if you can achieve this, you have found the magic formula to business success – your customers will rave about the service your staff provide and sales will increase.

Here are six ideas I’d like to share:

• The easiest and cheapest because it’s free – provide more positive feedback on a regular basis to your staff. Look for ways to catch then doing something right and tell them. This is so simple yet we forget to do it.
• Build amazing amounts of trust – again this one costs you nothing. Your staff will respect you and go the extra mile if they trust you. This means lead by example, do what you say, if they ask for something either provide it or tell them why you can’t.
• Get them to buy into your why – getting your staff to understand why you do what you do is critical for buy in. What is your vision and values and how do they live these? Also most staff and in particular Gen Y’s, want to feel part of something that contributes positively to the community and environment. Watch this brilliant Simon Sinek Ted Talk for more about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sioZd3AxmnE

• Have fun incentives – most staff love a target and if you wrap incentives in with this, you’ll be on a winner. Keep these simple and achievable for everyone. These can be brought in from time to time so they don’t just become the same every week.
• Use peer reviews for monthly awards – you could instigate, or amend, a monthly reward for your staff, voted upon by your staff. Staff vote for the person, they believe, has best lived to the companies values that month. This is a very powerful motivator as staff members love recognition, particularly coming from their peers.
• Ensure there is accountability – if you want your staff to perform and feel satisfied, give them responsibility and accountability. Great staff want to learn and grow and be given a chance to show what they can do. Help them to step up and watch them shine.

Being an inspirational motivational leader is challenging yet achievable if you follow these simple steps and remain consistent. The rewards are worth the blood, sweat and tears!!

If you have any other great ideas that work to motivate your team, I’d love to know what they are, so feel free to let me know.

Roger Simpson – CEO, The Retail Solution and Author of “The Retail Solution” With over 35 years’ industry experience, Roger Simpson is recognized as Australia’s #1 Authority on customer ROI in the retail industry and as a global expert on staff coaching, customer service and selling skills.