Motivate your team by connecting their work to Purpose
In my 5 Drivers to Really Motivate Employees I started discussing my RAMPP model for motivation. Now it’s time to outline the first ‘P’ in the model—Purpose.
All managers need to motivate their employees, and explaining why the work they do is important can often spark more motivated action. Help your managers implement these 4 tips for creating more meaning at work.
- Link employees’ tasks to the organization’s purpose.
- Point out the ways your team is making a real difference for customers, the community, or each other. Giving your team a concrete picture of how their work positively impacts others can be self-affirming. Share specific names and stories, so that your team can see who is benefitting from their efforts.
- Connect your employees’ responsibilities to their personal aspirations, such as a fast-food restaurant manager sharing with part-time employees, “One of our company goals is to provide good, stable jobs, so that you have money to help your families and save for college.”
- Help everyone reflect on their contribution. Many studies have shown that even a brief moment of reflection can help boost performance and resilience. Practice these and other reflection questions, “Who is going to benefit from what I’m doing?” “If I get this task done well, what bigger aspiration or value of mine will it support?”
Helping your managers connect work to meaning (even for mundane tasks) for all their employees is essential to building a motivated workforce. In our Motivating Employees Workshop your managers can also learn to implement the other 4 drivers of motivation into their day-to-day management, such as advocating Mastery.
Next up I’ll discuss the second ‘P’—Progress.”
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