With many teams still working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, keeping employees motivated can be a challenge. As a leader in your organization, you need to develop techniques to boost employee motivation in order to keep your employees productive and ensure the success of your team. Not only will motivated employees produce high-quality work, fostering a culture of motivation will help you keep your best and brightest employees. 

The good news is, motivating your employees doesn’t require extravagant investments. Motivating employees can be as simple as an encouraging word now and then. For more ideas on how to motivate your employees, consider these techniques:

Host a Socially Distanced Outdoor Gathering 

While it might not be wise to host an indoor, in-person meeting, many health experts agree that socially-distanced outdoor gatherings are safe. And while an in-person meeting may not be necessary, employee morale could benefit from a fun in-person gathering at a park or other outdoor area. An offsite, outdoor gathering can help break up the monotony of the solitary work-from-home day-to-day and help spark fresh ideas. 

Hold Competitions 

Competition brings out the best in people. If you have a sales team, concoct an annual or quarterly sales competition with a prize. A little friendly competition will help motivate your staff to raise the bar and beat their peers to win the prize. 

Host a Lunch and Learn 

According to a recent study, 94 percent of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it facilitated continued learning opportunities. A lunch and learn is a great way to reward employees for their hard work and motivate them to keep it up. It’s also something that employers can do virtually. Find a webinar or virtual training to share with your employees, or host a speaker for a Zoom lunch and learn.

Celebrate Employee Milestones 

A little employee recognition goes a long way. That’s why you should celebrate employee milestones like work anniversaries and birthdays. These small gestures will help your employees feel a part of a team and help motivate them to help the team succeed. 

Encourage professional development 

Countless surveys on employee perks rank professional development opportunities as a high as benefits like health coverage and paid time off. Employees want to continually develop their skills because they recognize that learning new things will help them grow their careers. To help keep your employees motivated, offer professional development opportunities like tuition reimbursement, or help them earn needed certifications so they can advance their skills. 

Don’t underestimate the power of employee motivation. Employees who are motivated are more likely to help you and your organization succeed. But motivating your employees doesn’t mean you need to invest an obscene amount of resources. These simple strategies for motivating your employees are budget conscious and easy to implement. Employ some of these motivation practices in your workplace and watch productivity soar. 

Need help locating motivated employees?

If you need to find motivated employees for your organization, contact Burchard & Associates. We help companies in the St. Louis area find top tier accounting and finance professionals for their open positions. Learn more about how us and contact us today.