Are you making these motivation mistakes?

By the editors of Briefings Media Group

It may be the oldest joke in the workplace: “The beatings will continue until morale improves”

Unfortunately, it’s no laughing matter. Managers with good intentions make bad mistakes as they attempt to boost morale. Ultimately, those actions have the opposite effect: They destroy morale.

Here are some of the most common misguided morale-building tactics:

• Throwing a party. Most people enjoy a good time, but unless you explain the reason for throwing the celebration, the morale boost will be short-lived. If morale is really low, your employees are unlikely to mingle and build bonds. Instead, they will divide into cliques and whisper among themselves about why you are acting out of character.

Better: Any time you treat employees, tie the reward to a tangible achievement. When employees see that meeting Goal A results in a celebration, they understand your expectations for them.

• Giving “fun” awards. On a high-performing, high-morale team, people appreciate it when you hand out rolls of LifeSavers candies to people who saved the day or give Three Musketeer bars to teams that worked together to go above and beyond. When staffers enjoy success and camaraderie, those small gestures are charming.

Warning: When morale is low, employees find small gestures like that trite, or worse, insulting. People who feel disgruntled or underappreciated won’t be charmed by such rewards.

Better: Show that you are a leader who notices and appreciates the small things. Thank employees when you see them doing something well or putting forth extra effort. Praise them in private and in front of others. And create opportunities for employees to share their appreciation with their peers. It may seem like baby steps, but each “Thank you” marks progress toward a high-morale workplace.

• Offering monetary rewards for peak performance. When you hold contests where the winning employee earns a bonus check, you probably think you are motivating staffers to excel. But if your employees are burned out and cynical, they will give up on the rewards almost as soon as you announce them. They will think: “It’s too hard. Everyone knows that Pat’s the best salesperson on the team, so why should I work harder when I know I won’t win?”

Better: Ensure that everyone has a chance to win any contests you hold. If you reward only the top salesperson, for example, few people will feel they have a chance to win. If you set up individual—attainable—targets, everyone is more likely to participate. For example, instead of rewarding people who close 15 sales in a month, reward all employees who increase their monthly sales revenue by 10%.

Employee recognition is a great and inexpensive way to boost productivity, raise morale and improve your bottom line. You can find more strategies for doing that here.