This is a common management situation today. Firstly, you do not have to pay your employees more money to keep them motivated. Many managers don’t understand that money is not the thing that motivates people on any given day; they are motivated by what happens to them on that day.
Most employees understand the economic bind that companies are in now. If you read the newspapers or watch TV, you have to know that many businesses, large and small, are struggling for survival. Only employees who are very secure in their jobs, have another one waiting, or have daddy’s money would dare ask for more cash, no matter how much more they are asked to do. However, even though you don’t have to pay more now to keep them motivated, if business turns around, the prudent and fair thing to do would be to give them a raise then. The real question becomes, “What do I do in the meantime?”
If people are asked to do more, they will feel good about it if they get something in return. During the recent dotcom boom, managers thought they could handle this problem with things like stock options and various delayed-payment schemes. When the bust came, people felt they had been duped because they had worked long and hard for large future payoffs, and the stock turned out to be worthless.
What works best is to make sure employees are not only told they are appreciated, but that it is demonstrated by management actions every day. This may seem overly simplistic to many, but one of the worst feelings you can have at work is that no one appreciates what you do.
An old saying goes: “If people are not told overtly and clearly that they are appreciated, they will assume the opposite.” Everyone knows this is true, because everyone has been in a situation where they’ve felt that hard work and extra effort were not appreciated.
There are three things you can do that will go a long way towards keeping morale high, even when you cannot use cash:
1. Listen to them. Take some time each day to talk to employees about what they’re doing. Give them the opportunity to tell you what they did, how hard it was and how they went about solving a problem or achieving a result.
2. Tell them. Tell employees their work is appreciated. Tell them clearly, and tell them often.
3. Show them. Take the initiative to do things that are unexpected. Bring in food; take them out for lunch; let them leave early. This is particularly effective when people have completed a difficult task or solved a complex problem.
Little things like these can mean a lot. Remember, these ideas are not a substitute for paying people fairly and equitably, but when put into practice, in good times or in bad, they will make people feel they are valued and valuable.