5 easy ways to motivate and demotivate employees.

I’ll put it as simply as I can: There are an awful lot of unmotivated employees out there. With a recent national study showing that less than 1 in 4 non-management employees is fully engaged (aka, fully motivated and productive), there is, shall we say, ample room for improvement. And since an employee’s relationship with his or her direct manager is the single most important factor influencing engagement, the responsibility falls to management to improve motivational levels. Accordingly, here are 5 easy ways to motivate and demotivate employees.

1. Align individual economic interests with company performance — Okay, so this first one isn’t quite as easy as the others; it does take more doing at the highest management levels than the rest. But incentive compensation programs that give employees at all levels of an organization a chance to benefit when a company prospers… can naturally boost motivation (always assuming solid individual performance in order for one to share in financial rewards)

2. Take a genuine interest in the future path of an employee’s career — It does wonders for an employee’s attitude to believe that a manager really cares about where his or her career is headed. Mentoring, coaching, suggesting additional training or coursework — all of these can be helpful to employees, and highly valued.