As our Motivation Week, in association with Red Letter Days Motivates, draws to a close, it is time to reflect on some of the trends and issues currently shaping this area of the benefits market.
Employee motivation is currently high on many employers’ agendas, but what truly motivates individuals? In a typical workplace, the answer is likely to be a wide variety of factors. Increasingly diverse workforce demographics mean that identifying exactly what is likely to motivate staff can be a challenging task for employers. No two employees are the same so while cash may still be king for some, others may be motivated more by items such as non-cash rewards, flexible-working arrangements or their working environment.
What motivates staff has also changed over time. The stereotypical image of the gold carriage clock as long-service award, for example, is now a distant memory for many organisations as employers have worked to bring awards more into line with employees’ interests and expectations. For example, a third (33%) of UK respondents to HR management and software services organisation ADP’s The workforce in Europe 2017 report, published in February 2017, now view work-life balance as the biggest motivator at work.
Day-to-day motivation strategies and schemes have undergone a similar evolution, not least as employers have brought these into closer alignment with organisational values and culture.
One thing that has remained consistent, however, is the fact that effective employee motivation can be crucial to business success. Numerous studies have shown that an unmotivated workforce is unlikely to be as engaged, productive or loyal to their employer as more motivated counterparts.
So, wherever you are with employee motivation in your organisation, Motivation Week was designed to help you take this to the next level through exclusive insights and opinions uncovering best practice in this area. These included:
- Are traditional approaches to motivation still valid?
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car recognises different staff motivation requirements
- James Kelly: The science of motivation
- The role of the workplace in employee motivation
- Infographic: The office facilities staff value
- EKM designs workplace to support staff happiness, motivation and performance
- Simon Richardson: How to motivate staff without providing a pay increase
- How to motivate and engage employees after a merger or acquisition
- Professor Chris Rowley: HR management can prove vital for merger and acquisition success
- GVC creates culture project to unite and motivate employees following takeover
Debbie Lovewell-TuckEditorTweet: @DebbieLovewell
