Do you want to motivate your employees to better performance? Then ask them what would help them to like their job more. That is at least what Melinda Zetlin, the President of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, advises in her article on Inc.com. "if my approach works with freelance writers -an independent-minded, highly intelligent, and sometimes cantankerous group - it's pretty much guaranteed to work with your employees too" says Zetlin.
Thus, ask your employees the following three questions.
Why do you work here?
If your people work just for money, you have a problem. Think about what you can do differently for them to make more effort. Agree on the objectives to be met and begin by providing necessary trainings and rewards for achieving the objectives.
What can I myself do for you?
Your can at least publicly praise your people or allow them to speak publicly about what they work on. A clear signal that management is interested in the work of its subordinates is very important.
Can I give you your own project?
People devote more energy to work on things that they consider their own and they can manage independently. There is no need to tell them what to do. On the contrary, let them to come up with their own ways of solving projects.
-kk-