Cut Costs by Motivating Your Employees

January 25, 2012 by smsadmin · Leave a Comment
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A funny thing has happened in the American manufacturing sector over the past two years. Even as unemployment remains high and hiring trends remain stagnant, the sector has been growing steadily – faster than it is in any other developed nation – and output levels continue to rise. The reason? Tremendous productivity growth among American workers appears to be the culprit. While past economic depressions have dictated that workers become less productive during dismal financial climates, the current recession seems to indicate the reverse. In the manufacturing sector, at the very least, workers are now more productive than they’ve been in over a century.

How can we explain this productivity growth? According to analysts, it can be directly attributed to a rise in worker motivation. Much of this motivation is of the more negative variety: workers are afraid of getting fired in a dismal economy and they consequently work harder to secure the jobs they have. But there are also positive motivations, too. A greater focus on culture, teamwork, and incentive programs has pushed workers to always do their best.

More motivated workers yield more productive ones, as the manufacturing revitalization suggests, and more productive workers can translate into more business and tremendous savings for a company. If you’re looking to cut costs this year without sacrificing output, you’d be amiss to overlook the benefits of worker motivation.

So how can you make your workforce more motivated? Here are a few ideas:

-Encourage group work. Studies show that employees work harder when they are responsible to each other.

-Breed an office culture. Employees will work harder when they feel as though they are an integral part of the business. You can accomplish this by encouraging an all-encompassing office culture centered around events, free meals, outings, and other bonding activities.

-Give incentives. Monetary incentives and bonuses are always a great way to get people working harder.

-Bring in a motivational speaker. Such speakers will often motivate people to take greater agency and responsibility over their everyday life – an attitude that often spills over into the workplace.

These are just a few of the ways you can try to make your workforce a more motivated one. If you succeed, not only will your workers be more productive and content, but it can also mean substantial savings for your business over the long-run.