Barry Moltz: 10 Simple Ways To Motivate Your Best People

"Employees that are able to have control over their daily environment have a higher level of job satisfaction and stay longer."

Good Morning Folks,

Barry Moltz Small Business Speaker, Consultant, and Author offers 10 simple ways to motivate your best people that mesch exactly with the way we say and do things at FSO.

The path for making most small businesses successful goes directly to having outstanding employees. Hiring and rehiring staff is a time consuming and expensive proposition for any company. How do you retain the best people and keep them motivated?

The golden rule of employment is employee goals = company goals.

When the employees’ career goals match what the company is trying to achieve in the long term, people stay and prosper. As soon as this equation becomes unbalanced, great employees seek opportunities elsewhere.

Here are 10 simple ways to motivate your best people:

1. Challenge them
Every top performing employee wants to be challenged on a weekly basis. As you raise your expectations, their performance and job satisfaction will also increase.

2. Give them the opportunity to make a difference
Forget about hiring “the best.” Most employees want to use their careers to make a difference in the world. Show them how they can accomplish that through their work at your company. People really do feel a sense of accomplishment after hard work.

3. Give them the opportunity to advance their career
Show every employee where they can go inside your company. Share a detailed vision! I will never forget in the late 1980's how my IBM Branch Manager, Jim Corgel once took his business card and scratched out his name. He then wrote my name in its place. Jim was showing me where I could go in the organization.

4. Be one of the leading places to work
Give them bragging rights at every party and family event. How do you think the employees at Apple, Google and Groupon feel right about now? Like business rock stars? You bet!

5. Pay them well
This is not a place to save money in your business. Give your best employees golden handcuffs by paying them above market rate and provide incentives to be the highest paid employee in their field. If you pay the best, you can expect the best.

6. Give them the ability to make decisions on their own
“Empower” is an overused word in business. But, we still need to give employees the ability to make their own decisions and be responsible for their outcome. Employees that are able to have control over their daily environment have a higher level of job satisfaction and stay longer.

7. Be the boss they want to work for
Be someone that all employees can communicate with without fear of judgement. Be available to talk with them as they make their own decisions in  your business.

8. State the companies beliefs and values
Publish a company manifesto clearly and ensure that every company action is in harmony with them.

9. Be supportive of their personal goals
Katrina Markoff, Founder of Vosges Haut Chocolates always asks her employees what their personal dreams are over the next 3 years. She then figures out ways to be supportive in order for them to meet their personal goal.

10. Provide complementary team members
Weed out the non performing employees quickly (Everyone knows who they are anyway)

In the spirit of the season.... CHEERS!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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 "If you're not happy with what you have, 

you'll never be happy with what you want."

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