IS CASH REALLY KING WHEN IT COMES TO MOTIVATING STAFF?
03 Jul 2009
How to keep staff motivated is one of the key issues that employers face. It is widely accepted that a contented workforce is a productive workforce - therefore keeping employees happy should, in theory, be a priority for managers. Cash bonuses offer an obvious incentive, but workers often need a more meaningful goal to work towards in order to keep them truly motivated. What then, is the best technique for employers to use in order to keep staff in high spirits?
A recent survey conducted by Alexander Forbes Financial Services (AFFS) found that eighty-one percent of workers think a pension is an important motivator. In addition, three-quarters of the respondents said that a decent company pension scheme is a significant influence when considering a new job. It appears that the future security offered by a pension plan is a key factor for people in these days of economic uncertainty.
AFFS director David Marlow certainly seems to think so. He urged firms to view a pension plan as an asset, saying: "There is now a clear and urgent need for employers to better understand and measure their return on pension investment, if they are to reap the rewards." Expenditure on a good scheme will lead to a better corporate performance, he concluded.
The same survey also gave an insight into other forms of staff motivation. Cash bonuses and flexible working arrangements were cited as attractive incentives by 70 per cent of those questioned. Extra holiday was also desired by 60 per cent of participants. It appears that policies that can help employees to maintain a good work/life balance are given equal value to financial bonuses, suggesting that cash is not always king when it comes to motivational techniques.
An article written by Debbie Webster - a practitioner at Liverpool Women's Hospital and lecturer at John Moores University - along with her colleagues Susan Snowden and Ben Shaw, claims that arranging away days for staff from the institution's neonatal unit improved teamwork, motivation and consequently the services provided to patients. Published in the Nursing Times, it outlines how two-day events were arranged at the Glaramara Centre in the Lake District, in "beautiful surroundings far from any town". This lack of distraction led to participants engaging fully with the programme, the authors note.
Teambuilding activities ranging from walking and climbing to reflexology and karaoke were run alongside workshops discussing issues that needed to be dealt with at the hospital. Promoting healthy competition between groups and causing staff to operate out of their "comfort zones" encouraged "lateral and creative thinking" and ultimately led to employees feeling more motivated after the event, the paper found. It added that junior staff felt more positive about their role and less wary of senior employees. And a typical comment written on evaluative forms by staff was "it's good to know the management value us enough to do this".
This one comment sums up the key point for employers to note when attempting to motivate staff. If employees genuinely feel valued then they are more likely to be motivated and keen to do well at their jobs. Feeling undervalued will surely lead to resentment and less effort on the part of the employee. Financial incentives are all well and good, but going that extra mile to provide a decent work/life balance for staff - as after all, they do have lives outside of work, a fact that some employers sometimes lose sight of - will lead to them being happier, feeling more worthwhile and eager to excel in their roles.
