What really motivates your employees?
It’s amazing the number of business owners and managers who still blindly believe that money is the sole and most effective motivator of employees. Research conducted over many years across many countries reveals this belief to be far from the truth.
One such piece of research conducted by Glenn Tobe & Associates asked business owners and managers to rank the importance of ten motivators for their employees.
They then asked the employees to rank the same list in order of what they most wanted from their managers and supervisors.
Here is the list of what employees wanted most, and a list of what their managers thought they wanted.
Employees:
Appreciation
Feeling “in” on things
Understanding attitude
Job security
Good wages
Interesting work
Promotion opportunities
Loyalty from management
Good working conditions
Tactful discipline
Managers
Good Wages
Job security
Promotion opportunities
Good working conditions
Interesting work
Loyalty from management
Tactful discipline
Appreciation
Understanding attitude
Feeling “in” on things
What’s most interesting about the results is that the top three motivators as deemed to be of most importance by employees, were listed as the last three motivating factors by supervisors. The other most significant finding was that good wages was rated as fifth in importance by employees.
The single greatest motivator of employees, as confirmed by countless other studies, is appreciation … simple thanks for a job well done.
Question: When was the last time you thanked and showed appreciation to your employees?
