If you run a business of your own, one of the most important things that you might need to focus on is making sure that you are surrounding yourself with people that you respect. Employees who are going to be as good to be around as possible. As long as you can do that, it is going to be a lot easier to ensure that you are running your business as best as you can, so that is something that you are going to want to think about. In this post, we’ll take a look at how to motivate employees, so that you are getting the most out of them, whilst ensuring they remain happy in their roles…

Photo, CoWomen.

Cultivate Open Communication

One of the first things that you can do when considering how to motivate employees is to make sure that you are always cultivating open communication wherever possible. The more that you are able to do this, the more that you will find yourself and your team being able to work together as fluently as you would hope. And that is something that then leads to some very powerful improvements across the board.

So, what can you do to cultivate open communication? In a small business, one of the best things you can do here is to simply start being more open yourself with how you engage with people around you. By simply being more communicative, you are going to find that people are the same way in response. And that is going to make an enormous difference to how you can see your business progressing.

When everyone is more communicative, it is going to make for a significant improvement in employees’ wellbeing as well as their ability to work hard. So, it’s something that you should spend the necessary time on in any business.

Photo, Brooke Cagle.

Promote Entrepreneurial Spirit

Your people should not be made to feel as if you are the only entrepreneur in town. Some business leaders do operate like that. And in truth, this is not a good way to be.

Instead, you should aim to promote an entrepreneurial spirit as far as possible. This way you are encouraging your team actively to become better and more engaged every day with their job. That is only going to benefit you anyway, no matter what they end up doing. As it will certainly mean that your business gets associated with those kinds of bright people.

If you find that there are definitely people in your employ who have that entrepreneurial spark, you should do all you can to make sure they are nurtured so that they can make the most of that spark.

This is something that is going to really make a huge difference when looking at how to motivate employees. Not just to them and their work, but to the business as a whole. The business will benefit greatly from this kind of approach. There is really no other way to treat people who have that kind of intelligence to be working with. So, make sure that you are thinking about this.

Photo, Annie Spratt.

Train Them Up

Well-trained employees are always going to be much more valuable to you, with a much greater potential for you being able to make the most of them and their skills and so on. Having better employee training can lead to a more empowered workforce.

You should be aiming to train your people up as much as possible in whatever relevant skills and fields might be appropriate. Now, it’s important to remember that these can be fairly everyday things. Ar they can be something a little more specialised and unique. But both can be helpful kinds of training, so you should definitely bear that in mind.

For instance, at some points you might want to give all of your people excel training or training in some other related piece of software. And then more broadly, you might also want to run training in the field of thinking better or adopting smarter solutions across the board.

However you do it, these kinds of training are diverse and yet all important in their own way. So, that is something that you should try to bear in mind. Training them up more is always going to be a good idea. Regardless of whatever else you might have in mind for them.

Photo, Mimi Thian.

Hire People Who Are Better Than You

This is one thing that a lot of business leaders struggle to do. However, it can be a really important thing. So, it’s vital that you are doing all you can to make it work, as you will find that the results of doing so are fantastic.

You should at all times make sure to hire people that you look up to in some way. Who are better than you at the skills that you are hiring them for at the very least. Or, who are much more able to run a business. If you have those kinds of people around you, in truth it is only going to mean that there is more basic skill there to work with. So, this is something that you should definitely bear in mind on the whole.

As long as the people around you are better than you at whatever they are doing, it is also going to reflect back on you very well. This means that your entire business progresses in terms of its public image and branding. Bear this in mind when you are going through the recruitment process, and you should find that it really helps.

Photo, Christina @ wocintechchat.com

Trust And Respect

Finally, be sure to develop a strong foundation of trust and respect amongst your colleagues. Also throughout your business on the whole.

As long as there is a lot of trust and respect going on, you are going to find that it is much easier for everyone to feel that they can do what they need to. This can have some pretty strong knock-on effects. So, it’s something that you are certainly going to want to think about as much as you possibly can. The more trust and respect there is, the better.

It’s important to understand how to motivate employees. Not just because it will help you get the best out of them. But, having a motivated and happy workforce has positive effects all through your business. Your clients and customers will be able to feel the positivity, and that translates into better sales.

At the end of the day, motivated employees can transform your business. Follow these simple steps on how to motivate employees and reap the rewards. Good luck.