The new year is a great time to start over, search out new opportunities and create new goals. However, you should reconnect with and motivate your team to make the most of the new year. You want excited employees who look forward to the new year with your company. These are fun ways to motivate employees and encourage their excitement and engagement.
1. Remind Your Team of the Purpose
Studies show that less than half of employees understand the expectations managers have of them. Therefore, as you start the new year, take the opportunity to remind your staff of the team’s purpose. Be sure you set clear expectations for each person on your team. They should understand what they need to do to succeed in their positions.
It would help if you also showed them that you are readily accessible whenever they need help, clarification, or support. Discuss accountability and how they will be held accountable for their tasks. This may include regular meetings on project progress. Also, encourage every employee to take ownership of their duties and projects.
2. Update Individual Goals
Your team needs a work-life balance, and they need to have both personal and professional goals. They should have goals that are separate from their jobs. Teach them about SMART goals, which are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Therefore, encourage your employees and team members to create personal and professional goals.
For example, encourage them to pursue education. Maybe they want to develop new skills or gain new knowledge that they can apply to their jobs or use to move up in the company. They may also wish to pursue a new hobby. Some in your department want to purchase a home next year.
Don’t forget to encourage them to create new work goals as well. Hold regular meetings and brainstorming sessions. These meetings allow your team to hear others’ perspectives and voice their concerns and ideas. To foster creativity and help your staff develop innovative solutions through critical thinking and gather together to help build a strong team.
The key to motivation is to give them something to work toward. They tend to be happier and more focused when driven to achieve new things. Build a corporate culture that promotes personal and professional achievement.
3. Celebrate Accomplishments
Everyone wants to feel appreciated. One of the best ways to show appreciation for your staff is to celebrate your team and individual accomplishments. If your team helped you finish a complicated project successfully, create a team celebration and recognize their efforts, revealing how each contributed to your overall success.
In addition, you should celebrate individual successes. When a staff member accomplishes something in their personal or professional life, congratulate them and share their success with the rest of the staff. Don’t forget to celebrate the previous year’s accomplishments as you start the next.
4. Do Fun Bonding Activities
Employee engagement increases when they feel their peers and supervisors understand and care about them. Therefore, you should get to know your staff members personally and professionally. This list of 5 ways to motivate employees includes creating bonding opportunities.
A great way to bond is through team outings, which could include anything from a picnic in the park to indoor rock climbing. These outings energize your employees and improve their morale. The key is to find activities that all of your team are willing and excited to participate in.
You can also create friendly competitions or challenges. Many companies support their employees’ fitness resolutions with fitness challenges. Even something as simple as a board game tournament can help develop relationships and boost morale. Give your staff opportunities to share stories, successes, and challenges.
5. Get Feedback
A great way to encourage new years motivation and employee engagement is to request feedback. Therefore, develop feedback loops. These loops are incredibly valuable for the company and its employees because they offer opportunities for your employees to share their opinions, feelings, processes, and innovations.
This feedback gives you an idea of where employees lack motivation and whether morale is suffering, so you can address these issues quickly, turning them around. In addition, feedback gives you ideas for increasing productivity across your department.
You may also vary your feedback collection. You should collect feedback directly from your employees, or you can gather feedback from clients, suppliers, partners, and other stakeholders. You will learn what your employees are capable of and encourage innovation. The satisfaction of all your stakeholders can be significantly impacted when you listen to and address their pain points, giving you a competitive edge.
Be consistent as you start implementing these strategies to encourage excitement among your employees in the new year. Increasing engagement can be simple if you give your employees the time and support they need.
Thanks for the helpful article. Our company has created all the conditions for motivating employees, including fitness classes. Recently I have put on some extra weight. And thanks to intermittent fasting for beginners via the link I learned to control my eating. In parallel, I go to the gym and already see good results.