Recognise This! – You can, however, remove roadblocks and recognise and reinforce desired behaviour to create a motivating work environment.

The quotation in the title is from one of my favorite blogs on leadership: Blanchard LeaderChat.

This particular post was on a mini case study on motivation. While I encourage you to read the entire post, it’s the final recommendation for leaders and managers that we all too often forget or don’t even realise:

“Remember that as a manager you cannot motivate anyone. What you can do is create an environment where an individual is more likely to be optimally motivated. Ask (and genuinely care about) how a person is feeling, help them recognise their own sense of well-being regarding a particular issue, and provide them with rationale without trying to ‘sell’ it.”

You cannot order someone to be motivated, any more than you can order people to be happy or satisfied at work. You can, as the post points out, create an environment in which it’s easier to be motivated.

Think about why you want your employees to be more motivated at work – increased productivity, better customer service, etc. Now think about what your employees need in order to be more productive or provide better customer service. Do they need more or better tools to get the job done in a more effective, efficient way? Are there roadblocks in their way (internal politics or red tape)? Are they properly empowered to offer the best customer experience possible in the moment without having to seek layers of approvals first?

Once you’ve eliminated the roadblocks to your end goals for increased motivation (reactive response to existing situations), you can begin to focus on what else employees need to engage more fully in the work (proactive measures). Are you recognising employees when they do give exceptional customer service, reinforcing for them what it is you want to see again and again? Are you encouraging all employees to notice and appreciate the actions and behaviours of their colleagues that contribute to increased productivity for all?

A combination of the reactive solutions (removing roadblocks) and the proactive measures (recognition and appreciation) are critical to creating a truly motivating environment at work.

What could your superiors (and your colleagues) do to create a more motivating environment for you?