Employee Motivation: The Five Areas You Must Focus On

Employee motivation can be quite a challenge. The decision on how committed an employee will be towards the organization, division or team, depends entirely on the individual. Therefore, the first step to employee motivation is to engage with each individual. Find out what makes him/her tick. The purpose of this article is to know what to look for when you engage with the individual. Many leaders make the mistake of applying a single motivational strategy to all their employees. The fact of the matter is that different things might motivate different employees. So how do you find the right formula for each employee? Research that was done by The Loyalty Institute at Aon Consulting has shown that there are five drivers of employee motivation. It is also known as the Performance Pyramid. It works a lot like Marslow's Hierarchy of Needs where the first level of motivational needs first need be satisfied, before a need arise in the next level. It wasn't intended that way. It just happened to work out like that. The performance pyramid can provide some wonderful guidance to know what to look for when you engage with your employees. Let's have a look at the five levels and see how it can help you to find ways to motivate employees.nnnLevel 1: Safety and Security Along with a physical sense of well-being, there must be a psychological belief that the environment is free of fear, intimidation or harassment.nnnLevel 2: Rewards Yes, you knew it. Most people won't come to work tomorrow if they win a big lottery today. This is the perception that the organization attempts to satisfy the employee's compensation and benefits needs.nnnLevel 3: Affiliation This is a sense of belonging. It includes being "in the know" and being part of the team. This is also where a difference in personal and organizational values can have a big impact on motivation.nnnLevel 4: Growth Employees want to have the belief that achievement is taking place. I might feel safe, get all the money I want and feel part of the team. But if there are no growth opportunities, I might think about leaving the company.nnnLevel 5: Work/Life Harmony This term speaks for itself. Someone might have all the rewards that he/she wants, but he/she will burn out sooner or later if they don't have the time to spend it on the other things they want.nnnWhat Should You Do With These Drivers Of Employee Motivation? While all five levels are important, the key is to pinpoint where the individuals and the workforce are not having their needs met. Start by offering a safe, secure work environment and equitable compensation and benefits packages. This is the foundation. However, before you launch those new and trendy benefits, engage with each individual and take a good, hard look at the basics. The young smart upstart employee might not be as exited about that benefits program. His needs might be to use that money to buy a new sport scar. The opposite might be true for the 40 something baby boomer.nnSome other pointers to keep in mind:

• Be aware of the five levels of employee motivation when you engage with your employees.
• Make your own assessment of what the needs of each individual are.
• Engage with each individual. Explain the different levels and ask them where they find themselves on the pyramid. What are his/her biggest needs?
• Engage with bigger teams and eventually with the whole organization about these levels of employee motivation.
• Do something about it. If someone wants growth, give it to him or her. If they want work/life harmony, make a plan. And Ditto for the rest of the drivers.