When you are in charge of other people in a work environment, whether as a supervisor, manager, department head, coach or CEO, you are faced with many challenges. One of the biggest is how to motivate those people around you. A paycheck is not always enough. Nor can we rely on everyone to be as intrinsically motivated as you might be to give your all for the good of the organization. What follows are 101 ideas for motivating the people around you. Some of these may not work because of your particular situation. I do not expound on them because I want you to get the creative juices flowing. However, let me know caution you about a couple of things…
– If you are not constantly trying to improve yourself and be the best you can be, then none of this matters.
– Leadership is not always a one-size fits-all approach. You can’t just paint-by-the-numbers and expect certain results. Be aware of your environment and be in-tune with the people around you.
– The best leaders, who get the most out of their people are ones that see the possibilities and have vision. “The way it has always been done” is a very dangerous statement to make if you want to realize potential and maximize results.
– At the end of the day, you can get results with unsatisfied people, but they’ll be either short-term or you will eventually lose in other areas. Satisfied employees lead to high customer satisfaction
1. Never miss a chance to send thank you notes
2. Think-tank sessions
3. Provide sporting event tickets
4. Learn everyone’s names quickly
5. Offer incentives
6. Have on-site fitness classes
7. Catch them being good
8. Casual Fridays
9. Employee of the Month
10. Don’t micromanage them
11. Show and Tell
12. Ask their opinion
13. Themed lunch or days
14. Get a football helmet of each person’s favorite team and put stickers on it for various achievements
15. Pay for them to attend a conference (even the hotel, food and booze)
16. Provide plenty of opportunities for advancement or more responsibility
17. Create a formalized certificate for an important accomplishment that they might frame hang up
18. Give gifts that they actually want (cell phone cases, iTunes gift cards, coffee tumblers, portable chargers, etc..)
19. Don’t wait for Christmas to give a bonus or a gift
20. Give them lottery tickets as rewards
21. Admit your mistakes
22. Company picnic
23. Friendly, healthy competitions
24. VIP parking spaces
25. Provide company apparel
26. Allow them more flexibility
27. Encourage smiling
28. Participate in a service project
29. Secret Santa
30. Company happy hour
31. Give them company stock
32. Write a thank you card to their family
33. Extra day off every once in awhile as a reward
34. Develop a new and improved job title for them
35. Invite the immediate family to a Christmas or Office party
36. Go nuts for donuts (donuts go well with coffee every day)
37. Give them credit as much as possible – lift them up
38. Flowers to your secretary other than Secretary Appreciation Day
39. Don’t neglect a good training or on-boarding program
40. Free admission to activities or events
41. Recognize professional achievements
42. Don’t bug them on their day(s) off or after hours
43. Name a room or award after someone
44. Discipline in private
45. Keep an open mind
46. Give a gas card as a reward
47. Provide them with a new chair
48. Use reward points for useful stuff
49. Bring your kid to work day
50. Traveling trophy
51. Food at meetings
52. Nap time
53. Keep your promises
54. Let them be unique individuals.
55. Coffee shop meetings
56. Public recognition
57. Mentorship program
58. Celebrate birthdays
59. Have an awards ceremony
60. Provide free tax preparation
61. Decide on a charity that you will all support
62. Give them a Fit Bit to use during the day
63. Be respectful of their abilities, time and space
64. Coffee all the time (gourmet coffee is even better)
65. Resource them properly for projects or tasks
66. Participate in team-building experiences
67. Hire a life coach or business coach to work with them once a week, month or quarter during work.
68. Celebrate personal milestones
69. Give them the heads-up before a major change occurs
70. Give them a chance to lead
71. T-Shirt design contest
72. Insist on work-life balance
73. Let them solve a problem
74. Family Day
75. Give them Uber credits
76. Sports-Jersey Day
77. Memberships (gym, golf, etc…)
78. Provide day care
79. Off-campus activity
80. Say “Thank You” more often
81. Breakfast from the boss
82. Mentorship program
83. Give them your time (be accessible)
84. Formal dress-up banquet
85. Be reasonable with deadlines and tasks
86. Seek out their opinion before significant changes occur
87. Ask them how they are doing every once in a while…and then listen
88. Cross train them so that they know how to do multiple things
89. Make it easy for them to get professional development or continuing education
90. Wash their cars while they are at work (detailing them is even better)
91. Get rid of some of the antiquated or unnecessary rules
92. Publicize them in the newspaper or the company newsletter
93. Provide a safe & comfortable environment
94. Give out the free stuff you receive from vendors
95. Provide them with up-todate equipment and resources
96. Keep the bathroom clean and smelling good
97. Encourage new ideas
98. Have an open door policy
99. Minimize some of the headaches or obstacles that they will encounter
100.Allow work-from-home day(s)
101.Communicate clearly and respectfully!!
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