What motivates employees? What is it that really drives them to be engaged, happy, and productive?

Creating an environment that maximizes impact of the motivation factors is not the result of a single initiative. It requires a continuous focus on the drivers of employee satisfaction, and may seem overwhelming. However, there are specific tasks, behaviors and strategies you can implement to harness the power of the motivation factors. Many of these tasks, behaviors and strategies can be put into effect by anyone, regardless of their position within the organization.

You will notice that the motivation factors are intertwined and overlapped, some of the tasks that can be implemented to maximize the effects of a particular factor may also provide an uplifting effect other factors as well.

Achievement: Most employees want to do a good job. When an employee performs their work successfully it brings with it a feeling of accomplishment and achievement.

Insure that job profiles (job descriptions) are set up so employees are positioned to be successful in their position. Responsibilities and expectations are clear and employees are offered challenges that are reachable but not overwhelming.

Recognition: Employees desire appreciation for their accomplishments and for the personal value they bring to the organization.

Recognize and celebrate achievements and behaviors. This is one of the most powerful but overlooked actions that can be taken to promote employee satisfaction. Recognize teams and individuals publicly and privately, keep recognition distributed fairly and use specific measurements when possible. Recognition must be timely and appropriate to the individuals and/or teams.

Growth: Employees are motivated when they know there are opportunities for growth.

Emphasize training and development development opportunities. Coach employees individually on recommended technical and emotional intelligence training needs. Help employees find, fund and accomplish training goals.

Advancement: Employees need to feel that through their efforts that advancement is possible. This includes career advancement but also advancement in knowledge, skills and understanding.

Communicate what is required for advancement. Be clear to describe what technical and developmental proficiencies are needed to advance to the next position. Be sincere in performance evaluations and help the employee acquire the relevant experience, training, and skills to move to the next position.

Responsibility: Employees must sense that they have the responsibility and authority to perform their jobs effectively.

Create an environment that emphasizes employee ownership of their jobs. Employees should feel that they have the freedom and management trust to perform their jobs and to own the outcome. As employees gain mastery of their jobs, additional responsibilities can be added within the scope of the position.

The Work Itself:  Employees need for the work to be meaningful, purposeful and worthwhile.

Insure that employees understand why their work matters. Managers should be confident that employees know how their work fits in and how their work specifically contributes to the organizations’ goals and objectives. This leads to an increased sense of connection and purpose.

First, you can use your position in the organization to communicate and promote the organization’s larger purpose. An important aspect of this is identifying the overall value or positive impact the organization brings to society as a whole. This could be social, economic, or philanthropic.

For example, if you are in the grocery business, the larger purpose could be providing fresh food to inner city families. Most people would agree that this is important and honorable.

The next step is to identify how the individual employee provides a valuable service to the organization which allows the organization to serve the community. This enables the employee to visualize their contribution to the larger purpose and how they fit in to the big picture. They can see that their job is a valuable step in the process of delivering the company’s products or services.

You have various platforms available to you to communicate the connection and purpose depending on your position and role. These platforms include one on one conversations, meetings, organized speeches, performance reviews, business updates, emails, you name it…the opportunities are numerous.

Second, you can promote and amplify the organization’s mission statement. A well-constructed mission statement can provide a clarity of purpose for employees. The duties of some individuals, teams, and departments within the organization may be difficult to directly tie to the mission statement. You will need to identify and communicate the connection between those employees and the mission statement. A particularly effective approach is to personalize and rephrase the mission statement using your own words. Use all of the platforms available to you to communicate employees’ connection to the mission statement, including one on one conversations, meetings, organized speeches, performance reviews, business updates, electronic correspondence, etc.

Third, encourage your direct reports to be more vocal about the company’s larger purpose and mission statement. Performance reviews are a great opportunity to discuss each manager’s and leader’s obligation to help their direct reports understand their connection to the larger purpose and to the mission statement. To be effective, all of this communication has to be sincere and consistent.

Fourth, communicate what leadership is trying to achieve and why. Be clear about initiatives. When people understand why they are doing certain things they are much more likely to willingly participate. Be accessible as a leader, take time to be visible, communicate with employees in neutral environments and spend time chatting with no agenda.