Your employees have secure jobs and a steady income. Shouldn't that be enough? Believe it or not, it takes more to motivate workers to succeed.
Still can't motivate your workers to succeed? It's possible that they aren't properly trained, or that they don't feel rewarded by suitable feedback. But perhaps it's a matter of incentive. Put simply: what do they get if they work harder?
According to Ferdinand F. Fournies in Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To Do: And What To Do About It, managers often make the mistake of touting "The Honor and Glory of the Company" as the reason people should work hard. "Unless you are in imminent danger of going out of business and there will soon be no jobs," says Fournies, "'The Honor and Glory of the Company' translates to 'For the Good of the Owners.'" And your workers know this.
The second most common fallacy is the "You are lucky to even HAVE this job" school of thought. Well, sure. But I'm also lucky to have, say, nostrils. This doesn't mean I'll go around wearing an I Heart Nostrils t-shirt. You are doing no great favor by employing each person. The opposite argument is also true: you need the employee just as badly as they need the job, or else you would not have hired them in the first place. Therefore, you are just as lucky to have each worker. You could find another employee as easily (or with as much difficulty) as they could find another job. So, you're even, motivationally speaking, which isn't an incentive for an employee to do anything more than is required for the job.
Hard work should be its own reward. This is the third most common motivational fallacy. Let's be realistic here: the biggest reason many of us work is to earn a paycheck. If hard work were truly it's own reward than people would work for free. It true that hard work and great results often feels great, but for many of us that isn't reason enough to step up the effort.
The fact of the matter is, you must give your employees tangible incentive to work harder. A portion of the profits, a measurable bonus schedule, and promotions with raises are all good examples. A realistic outlook on why your employees are at work every day will help.
And most importantly, don't take your workers for granted. Or, for that matter, your nostrils.
