Motivate your lazy workers

Motivate your lazy workers

Do you ever feel like it would take you far less time to complete a task than if you were to give it to someone else? Whether they are doing contracting work, are full-time employees, uninspired or just simply lazy, bad workers are the down-fall of every small moving company. But there are ways to get a fire under their britches, and get them motivated to achieve your company’s goals.

Here are 7 ways to motivate your office employees

1. Hire the right people – If you want your office staff motivated, try hiring motivated employees. Happening more often than not, time-strapped business owners will hire someone who looks decent on paper, but turns out to be an unmotivated and lazy worker. Instead, take some time to get to know the potential employee. Heck, invite them to lunch or a business dinner, no one looking for a job will turn down the opportunity to sit down with the owner for a free dinner.

2. Set Clear Goals – Let your employees know what their top priorities are and what their deadlines are. Sometimes your workers will forget what exactly they need to be doing at any given time. Don’t be vague, give it to them straight.

3. Manage with a walk-around – Doing this too often can cause unneeded stress, but doing infrequent walk-arounds and keeping up to date with work-flow can keep people motivated and on their toes. Don’t do a walk-around at a specific time or day, do them at random, otherwise your office staff will expect it, if you catch them off guard, you will know how productive they are.

4. Share your finances – Obviously, you don’t need to share everything with your employees, but transparent revenue and expenses can be a real motivator. If your employees feel that there is ‘enough money to go around’, they can use that as a catalyst to not work hard. However if an employee feels like their job is at stake, it can keep them on their toes.

5. Incentivize – An incentive program can back-fire if its not done right. If your incentive seems like an unachievable measure or makes your employees uncomfortable, don’t do it. Set a benchmark that is realistic, that way your employees are sure to give it a try.

6. Build Trust – Your employees will work harder for managers/executives that they believe in. If you want to increase trust, own up to your mistakes, show empathy to your workers and be honest when telling them how difficult it will be to meet your goals. Don’t make pronouncements, instead involve yourself with your workers and listen to their ideas.

7. Treat your workers like people – A hierarchy may be set in place where you work, but it doesn’t mean that your animals. Treat your workers with the same love and respect that you would want to be treated with.