Human Resources
How Leadership Contributes to Employee Motivation
Effective leadership drives employee engagement, retention and organizational success. Does your leadership help or hinder your employees’ motivation? Many organizations struggle to find the right leadership approach, balancing different styles and strategies to meet employee’s needs.
Learn more about the importance of motivation in leadership and how you can adopt the right strategy to promote organizational success.
Understanding Motivational Theories — Why We Do What We Do
Human motivation has been the subject of countless research studies, and there are many theories about what drives humans to act. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a widely regarded theory. It posits that humans must satisfy their lower-level needs to progress to higher-level needs like love, self-esteem and self-actualization.
However, many other motivational theories exist, such as:
- Intrinsic: This theory posits that humans are motivated by internal factors like personal satisfaction and enjoyment.
- Extrinsic: The extrinsic theory of motivation argues that humans are motivated by external rewards, such as money, grades or even affirmations.
- Expectancy: According to the expectancy theory, people are motivated when they perceive the outcome of their efforts will be successful.
- Self-determination theory (SDT): This theory argues that humans are motivated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Social values drive external motivators, while self-determination drives internal motivators. When people internalize social values, extrinsic motivation transforms into intrinsic motivation.
How to Encourage Employee Motivation and Engagement
Motivational theories are helpful to a point. It probably wouldn’t help to adopt an exclusively intrinsic or extrinsic motivational strategy, but knowing what tends to drive humans can help leaders craft more common-sense approaches. The best way to learn how to engage and motivate your team is to:
- Ask questions: Ask your team what motivational strategies work for them. Does a hands-on leadership approach help them feel supported or make them feel micromanaged?
- Listen to feedback: Gather feedback on your leadership approach from employees and peers. Periodic check-ins can help you assess your approach and make updates based on what works.
- Pay attention: Observing how employees respond to your leadership strategies is essential. Watch how each employee responds to different strategies. You might find your team works well with a single approach, or you may need to adopt multiple approaches to meet everyone’s needs.
The following are a few qualities you can adopt to motivate and engage your team.
Empowerment
Empowerment in the workplace means encouraging employees to make decisions and take ownership of their work. This strategy prompts workers to think for themselves and make decisions.
Rather than issuing orders, you might present a situation and ask what your employee thinks are the appropriate next steps. This approach brings them into the decision-making process while encouraging them to apply their unique approach to a problem.
Trust
Employees will feel more motivated when they know their managers trust them. Repeated check-ins and invasive questions about an employee’s work can indicate a lack of trust, which can negatively impact motivation. Finding the right balance that builds trust between your team while also ensuring accountability is essential.
Building trust in the workplace also requires another “T” word — transparency. Transparency involves being open and honest about your approach to work and leadership. This includes sharing your own successes and failures so your employees feel comfortable doing the same.
Communication
Fostering open dialogue is another way to motivate employees. Your team should feel free to provide feedback, ask questions and share any problems or concerns. As part of healthy, empathetic communication, it’s important to validate their concerns before offering solutions.
Being approachable also means prioritizing regular communication with your team and conveying clear, achievable expectations. Establishing team meetings and one-on-one check-ins provide ample opportunities for employees to feel heard.
Recognition and Reward
Recognition and rewards are vital to keeping employees motivated and engaged in their work. Employees who feel unappreciated are more likely to leave their jobs — in one study, 54% of employee resignations were due to feeling undervalued by their employer.
Beyond sharing the impact of an employee’s work, managers and leaders should highlight specific accomplishments for all team members. This recognition could take many forms:
- Personal letters or emails congratulating them on a specific achievement
- Shouting out individual or group efforts on projects in team meetings
- Giving out quarterly or end-of-year bonuses or gifts
- Hosting a party to celebrate a group accomplishment
- Providing opportunities for professional development
5 Examples of Motivational Leadership
When looking at examples of how leadership motivates employees, consider how to engage employees with different leadership styles:
- Authoritative: Marked by clear direction and reminders about long-term goals, authoritative leaders often position themselves as mentors to their team. Managers using this style provide strong direction and guide employees to success. This style can be most successful when there is a larger experience or skills gap.
- Affiliative: Affiliative leaders focus on integrating themselves into the team, prioritizing camaraderie and cohesion. Motivating employees through the affiliative leadership style involves offering personal affirmations and engaging in team-building activities.
- Participative or democratic: This leadership style emphasizes collaboration between employees and managers and group decision-making. Workers take an active role in setting goals, empowering them to take ownership of their work and develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
- Delegative: Also known as laissez-faire leadership, the delegative style involves leaders assigning tasks and allowing employees to complete projects and provide updates on their own. Motivation for this style is rooted in trust and confidence. This style may work best for experienced teams with clear roles and duties.
- Transactional: Transactional leaders focus on order and efficiency with clear directives. This managerial style motivates employees with rewards for completing work. It is common in workplaces subject to strict standards and regulations, but it may not work well in creative environments.
Benefits of Motivating Employees
Employing the right leadership and motivation in management has benefits across your organization. The impacts of a lack of motivation can be felt widely — one study estimates that businesses lost $1.9 trillion from unmotivated employees.
Investing in the right leadership strategies to motivate employees comes with many advantages, including:
- More productive employees
- Increased output and performance
- Positive company culture
- Better employee relationships
- More creativity and innovation
- Employee retention
- Positive brand reputation
Contact Exude Human Capital for Leadership Development Solutions
No one leadership strategy will be right for all employees and organizations. To find the right balance, consider the needs of your team and your workplace. The bottom line is that motivated employees help your organization thrive.
Exude Human Capital offers tailored leadership development solutions, which focus on practical applications that make an immediate impact. Learn how to develop strong employee relationships, enhance communication and build trust and community in the workplace. Fill out a contact form to learn more about our consulting services.
