5 Effective Ways to Keep Employees Motivated in a Small Business 

Employees play an integral part in keeping a business going, especially a small business. You would think that your job is over the moment you find the right people for the job. However, you might also feel that it has become difficult to retain them, which ends up costing you more in the long run. 

Motivation is one of the key aspects of retaining employees. Motivated employees are more productive and perform 20% better. Motivation for employees can come in multiple forms. You can decide to either organise more team lunches or keep better incentives for good performers. What you can’t do is expect the employees to find a way to motivate themselves.

A survey revealed that over 70% of workers in the UK expect their employers to invest more effort into motivating them. This indicates that you, as an employer, need to implement some changes if you notice a decline in employee motivation. In this article, we will discuss effective strategies to keep your employees motivated and driven.

1. Make Company Offsites More Engaging

We agree that company off-sites are not just about fun. They are also a forum for everyone to share their honest thoughts on the direction the company is going. These kinds of conversations are particularly helpful for small businesses. 

That said, it doesn’t mean that you can’t include a bit of fun elements in your company offsites. We are not talking about the trust exercises or sack races, but activities that will actually foster corporate team building.

That could be anything from playing an escape room game to an archery competition. A well-planned, adventurous day will surely help your employees build stronger connections with each other and make them appreciate the company culture.

2. Enlist the Help of an HR Consultancy

It is natural for a small business owner to be in charge of many departments. While employees might execute your vision, you do all the ideation. In a scenario like this, it is also natural to overlook basic Human Resource (HR) practices.

You might have missed updating everyone on the new policies, or you might not have considered training and development an important part of employee retention. Creating an entire HR department might not seem feasible at the moment, but hiring HR consultants will surely help you manage your day-to-day employee motivation.

An expert HR consultancy can help by creating customised strategies for your business that are driven by employee happiness and motivation. Their practices will help with conflict resolution and programmes designed to keep employees more engaged.

3. Give the Decor an Overhaul

You might have noticed that employees go to great lengths to redesign their cubicles to stay motivated. What if you could do the same with the entire office? A well-planned and decorated office will have a huge impact on employee motivation and productivity.

You can either give the entire office an overhaul or you can make some tiny changes to make the space more visually appealing. You would not go wrong with a splash of colour on the walls matching the theme of your business or keeping your products and services on display. 

Additionally, you could add desk flags that employees could use to indicate their availability or mood. You don’t have to make big budget changes to your decor. Some small, mindful changes can have the power to make a huge difference to your employees’ motivation levels.

4. Keep a feedback loop going

We know that having a feedback conversation is very difficult. For those conversations to work, both you and the employee need to be ready to listen and understand. One way to make this process easier is to eliminate the one-on-one yearly formal conversations and have more frequent informal chats with your employees.

This will have a more positive impact, especially for small businesses with a handful of employees. These informal chats will also give you more insight into opportunities as a business owner. 

Another important part of feedback sessions is implementing them. When employees see their ideas in action, they are more motivated to share them in the future. This also makes them feel heard and more invested in the company’s success. Another technique that will help in this area is encouraging peer feedback in a smaller group setting. 

5. Have a growth plan ready for them

When you have a small business, it is difficult to offer multiple stories of the corporate ladder for your employees to climb. After a certain period, they might feel that their talents will be more appreciated elsewhere. That said, there is something better that you can offer to your employees.

Small businesses have the luxury of offering personalised growth opportunities. If an employee is working exceedingly well, you don’t have to wait for a year to issue appreciation or a bonus. In small businesses, employees can climb ladders swiftly, provided they are good at what they do.

Additionally, you can develop learning plans for each employee based on their skills and requirements. Many large corporations have to group employees for such training, but you don’t have that limitation. This also keeps the employees more keen on learning since it fills a gap in their knowledge base. 

Final Thoughts

A positive work atmosphere encourages workforce motivation. However, every employee is different, and not all these techniques will work the same way for every employee. At the end of the day, it is all about creating a workspace where your employees feel heard and engaged.

Just because you are a small business doesn’t mean that workforce motivation shouldn’t be important to you. It costs about 30% more to replace an employee, and your business can suffer when you have a demotivated workforce.

You can start with small changes and build your way up to a team that will stay with you for longer. We hope you use these strategies to boost your team’s motivation.