One of the key challenges with managing a team is keeping the level of motivation high; so using psychology to encourage productivity will help will have a huge effect on your business.
The beauty of marketing is that there is always some proactive work that can be done – so staff should never be twiddling their thumbs and saying they don’t have anything to do – whether its engaging with people on social media, developing market analytics, taking new photos for the website or writing a blog (voila!).
This isn’t about ‘being bossy’, increasing to do lists, or cracking the whip – after all, head space is important for staff wellbeing as well as to facilitate creativity. This is about motivating staff so they are proud and focused to produce consistent quality of work without distraction.
If you are managing a team or a business and want to grow your productivity, then look after your number one asset – the minds of your employees.
In the past, motivating employees often meant promising them an end-of-year bonus and hoping they’d keep it in mind as they worked. This kind of financial motivation can be beneficial under certain circumstances, but all too often, it isn’t effective in the long-term and it doesn’t breed a healthy company culture. In many cases it can be demotivating when someone doesn’t receive a bonus the following year, or when they know they won’t achieve a set target.
So consider these factors when you are looking to grow your business…
Put trust in your staff
It is important to have faith in the people you recruit. It can be difficult to let go, especially when it’s your own business, but you have chosen them to do a job so have trust in your own decision-making process when you hired them!
Handing over a project shows that you have confidence in their ability, and they are much more likely to flourish than if you micromanaged them.
In Calmer’s blog, Top five ways you can motivate your team, they mention the Ben Franklin effect which says people are more likely to do favours for you when they have been entrusted with doing a favour in the first place. So, the more you have faith in someone to do something, the more likely they are to go out of their way to support you and the business in a daily basis.
Apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological model that depicts human needs in a five-tier pyramid. It demonstrates our most basic and important physiological needs first (survival requirements including water, food, shelter etc). Followed by safety needs, intimacy, accomplishment and finally self-actualisation. The idea is that you cannot achieve a higher tier without achieving the most basic ones. For example, you cannot have self-esteem and a sense of achievement if you are insecure or are struggling to feed yourself or clothe yourself.
Consider how you as an employer can help your workers fulfil each tier of the pyramid. In terms of physiological needs, you can ensure that none of your employees are working too late (lack of sleep can greatly affect mental and physical wellbeing) and that the working environment is comfortable (ie. basics like easy access to water, light and clean toilets). To support an employee’s safety needs, you should make sure that each of your employees feels safe, both physically and through job security. To address the sense of belonging, you can communicate with each of your employees individually, getting to know them on a personal level or encouraging social events that help create a strong company culture. It is also important when to recognise the accomplishments of your workers – simply by pulling them aside and telling them that you appreciate their progress can help fulfil their need for esteem.
By its very nature Self-actualisation is the hardest of Maslow’s needs to achieve. But managers and business owners still have a role to play in helping employees seek personal growth. You can encourage your employees to explore their interests and talents, find their niche within your business and pursue their goals within the structure you’ve provided. When you guide your workers down the path of self-actualisation, your business is sure to reap the benefits. Research shows that employees who act on their strengths on a daily basis are eight percent more productive and six times more likely to be engaged.
Pay Attention to the Details
It is often the little things in an office that are holding your employees back from optimum productivity. If meetings typically run long, create an agenda beforehand so that time is used efficiently, and your workers stay focused rather than losing interest in a winding discussion. Play music that boosts productivity rather than distracting from it. If you see that one of your workers is suffering from an afternoon slump, encourage them to take a short walk to get their energy flowing again. By paying attention to your employees’ psychological needs, you can help them become the most productive version of themselves.
Conclusion to using psychology to encourage productivity
A comprehensive, psychological approach to motivating employees can build an office atmosphere that your workers will love and take your business to the next level. Study the culture of other successful business. If you are based in a shared office this can be an ideal place to take notes and tips from other businesses – ask staff from other companies what they enjoy about working for their employers, you may get some useful tips or ideas to apply with you own teams.
Look at how your business can truly invoke both pride and excitement for your team. Consider using psychology to encourage productivity and motivate your employees – you’ll soon find a positive attitude shift and an increase in the quality of quality of work thats produced.
About Empower Marketing
Empower Marketing Ltd is an exciting marketing agency with a proven track record of developing and implementing sales and marketing strategy, projects and campaigns. Our management team each have over 18 years experience of helping to grow business start-ups and large organisations across a range of sectors.
We are a flexible business, passionate about empowering organisations to understand and control their marketing campaigns. We do not lock businesses into long contracts or tie them into unneccessary costs. Even though this could reduce our scope for longer term business, we actually enjoy keeping a company’s marketing budget as low as possible as this means bigger profit margins for you, and therefore maximising our client’s success. We promise to provide honest advice, creative ideas, business acumen and strong value-for-money.
Empower Marketing are recognised as a top Consulting Firm on DesignRush. We have also been nominated as finalists for the 2019 Agency of the Future awards.