Taking pride in their work will motivate employees far more than money or bonuses. When someone takes ownership of a task and begins to feel as though its completion and subsequent success or failure reflects on them personally, they will be more invested in seeing that the job is done right. A manager looking over your shoulder to ensure that a job is done properly can feel intrusively and overbearing, your own conscious urging you to work harder and do better is simple incentive to do your best.
So, the question becomes, "How do you get employees to take pride in their work?"
There is no one, single right answer. The answer will be different for certain employees, for specific tasks and at particular times. As a small business owner, your challenge is to determine what works best and how to promote it within your business. Keep reading for a few tips to help you get started.
- Encourage employees to take ownership of projects. Allow them to make decisions regarding how the project should be completed and recognize them for their efforts.
- Give employees the opportunity to recognize each other. Sometimes peer pressure can be more motivating than the boss.
- Don't take credit, or allow managers to take credit, for the hard work of others. Nothing is more demoralizing or discouraging than watching someone else take the credit for all your effort. Employees won't take pride in their work if they know someone else is going to get the credit for it anyway.
- Communicate with employees how much you appreciate their work and how proud you are of what they've accomplished. Let them know that you trust their judgment and are confident in the quality of results they will produce. Many people will be motivated by your respect and work hard to deserve it.
- Reward a job well done with new opportunities for more challenging projects. Providing opportunities for employees to grow and learn new skills can be very empowering. When an employee feels like they've earned the right to work on a higher profile project they will be proud of what they've already accomplished and motivated to continue to succeed.
There are many things you can do to motivate employees and encourage them to meet certain standards. You can put procedures in place to measure results and create certain processes to try to standardize results. Nothing will produce better, more consistent results than employees who take pride in their work. An employee who takes pride in their work will work harder, put in more time and pay closer attention to detail. When it is a matter of pride, they won't be watching the clock, or phoning in their efforts. They will give 100% effort, 100% of the time. They will hold themselves accountable for doing a good job and producing superior results.
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