5 Cost-Effective Ways to Motivate Employees

If your employees have Internet access, they may not be as productive as you’d like them to be. In fact, recent studies suggest that U.S. workers spend as much as 20% of each workday doing personal tasks on the Internet. Some employers have looked into how to block a Website or even considered employee computer monitoring to try to resolve the issue. But the real problem isn’t simply Internet access – it’s a lack of motivation on the part of the workers.

Even if you don’t have a huge budget, there are several creative ways that you can motivate your employees to work harder on the job:

1. Start an “employee of the month” program. Set goals for your workers, and reward the most productive employee at the end of each month. Hold a small office party, and present the winner with a framed “employee of the month” certificate.

2. Set productivity goals for your workers, and reward employees who meet those goals by allowing them to work a more flexible schedule. This is especially effective if you have employees with families.

3. If you have a small staff, meet with each person one-on-one to determine what nonmonetary motivator would be most effective for him or her. Whenever an individual achieves the goals you’ve set for a 30-day period, reward him or her with that nonmonetary award.

4. Establish a clear career path if you have employees who feel “stuck” in their jobs. If there are no chances for workers to advance their careers or be promoted in the future, expand their job descriptions to give them some variety in their daily tasks.

5. Set aside 2 or 3 reserve parking spaces for employees who are most productive during each month.