In a time where most of the workforce consists of millennials who are well aware, concerned, and prioritize their mental health, having a workplace environment that makes them happy and motivated is a given. A little stress on their minds and they run to get therapies to become happier (I know because I am one of them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯…)
I mean, we are not wrong in putting our mind and heart first. We’ve learned that the hard way, better not lose it yet. But more about it later. The reason to bring up mental health in this article is: when the workers feel more motivated, important, and happy at their workplace, the organization as a whole. There are many elements that add to it. All these factors, however, are controlled by one single person in the organization – the HR manager.
What Role Does HR Manager Play In Motivating The Employees?
An HR manager is a person who influences and inspires the workers to become better employees. It is the efforts of the HR manager that retains the employee in the organization for a longer period of time and recruits the best talents in the market for the company. I guess it is safe to say that an HR manager is a person who holds together the marriage of the company and the employees.
HR managers can affect the opinions of the employees about their workplace merely through the actions that they undertake. For HR managers, it becomes crucial to understand what factors fuel the employees. It is not an easy task to remember because every employee may have a different motivating factor. Some may work better if they are paid more money, some will give better output if their problems are heard. However, some other employees may feel more attached to the organization when they are given chances to balance their work-life. Recharging the willpower of every single employee is the reason why HR managers are so respected and cherished.
These actions of an HR manager can be as follows:
Acknowledge Their Appreciation:
Who does not enjoy recognition? When we were kids, we used to feel so proud when the teacher appreciated our test paper, homework, or our behavior in front of the entire class! It made our little hearts feel a sense of accomplishment. We may have grown up, but that little happiness in the corner of the heart that lights up when we are appreciated or recognized by our supervisor (teacher or manager) is something that remains unchanged throughout life.
Image: Right off the bat, 69% of employees confess they’d work harder if they were appreciated a little better.
As an HR manager, you must understand that the employees that work for your organization are no different from you and me. Appreciate your employees for their contribution to your organization’s success. You can do this by acknowledging their performance in a meeting or by sticking a written appreciation note and displaying it on the notice board. Congratulate them on their accomplishment. A few words of appreciation can work wonders.
This practice has two effects: 1. The productive employees feel like they belong with the organization and that their efforts are not going to waste. This makes them work even harder for the organization, thereby increasing their already high productivity. 2. The unproductive employees see the appreciation and acknowledgment that the active employees receive and work harder in order to get recognized by the organization in front of all their colleagues.
Value Their Opinions
Human Capital makes and breaks your organization. Without the workforce, there is no possible way to continue the business operations. When they hold such a critical position in the business and stay so close to business operations all the time, it is pretty much evident that they know about the processes and functions the most.
As a sane manager, why would you not utilize the opinion of the people who have a detailed perspective on your business’ daily activities? I mean, they stay with your machines and customers all the time; they do know more about them than you do while sitting in your office. When you allow the employees to share opinions and views on the same, it not only gives them a feeling of belongingness but also gives your organization a scope to improve.
It is a win-win situation when you value their employees’ views. The benefit to the employers is that they get an unfiltered point of view of their business functionalities. The employees, on the other hand, feel much more valued and important in the organization. When they think that organization considers them to be their own, they reciprocate this feeling very generously by working hard for the organization, thereby becoming more productive than ever before. I mean, really, there is nothing to lose for the organization.
Emphasize Communication
Communication is the key to any relationship. We have all heard about this statement. Well, it is completely accurate. Communication is indeed the key to all relationships, even if the relationship is a formal one between an employer and an employee.
Keep an open mind while talking to your employees. Do not limit the conversation to the workplace. Be open to listening to their personal issues. Maybe they are struggling in their personal life; perhaps they have some clashes with their colleagues. Ask them if they are alright from time to time. In case you think you have a solution for their problems, feel free to contribute. Ask their opinions towards your methods of managing. Stay open to criticisms.
Doing all these will make them feel valued. They will be able to lighten their burden by sharing their feelings with you. When their mind is stress-free, they will work more happily for the organization. And there is no need to mention that happy minds are more productive. What more does the organization need?
Pave The Way For Their Growth
Have you ever tried making Rotis? At first, they won’t be round. Once you practice hard and learn to make them round, you’ll get too addicted to making more and more of it. You’ll eat only Rotis with curry on day 1, same on day 2 (Maybe a different curry), day 3, and day 4, just different curries. However, on day 5, you’ll start missing rice, maybe pizza, ooh! What about burgers? What I’m trying to say is doing the same thing over and over again tends to bore an individual – be it cooking or working.
When the employees do the same work over and over again, they tend to get bored. After a certain amount of time, they search for development. They look for opportunities to grow, be it in your organization or another. In order to retain them in the company, provide them with growth opportunities.
Conduct regular training sessions, seminars, crash courses, etc., and allow your employees to participate in the same. You can also practice intra-organization transfers in order to increase their knowledge in all the fields. When your workforce gets the grounds to grow within the organization itself, they will refrain from changing teams. Your organization gets benefited from high employee retention rates, and because the employees feel happy that the organization thinks about their growth and provides opportunities to them, they repay by giving greater output and better productivity.
Let Them Find A Balance
You have 24 hours in a day, and you have to distribute them between your family, your work, and yourself. Your employees are not given an extra second in addition to the 24 hours. They have the same time, and they have the same task – to spend it on their family, their work, and themselves.
As an HR manager, you can allow holidays or vacations to your employees so that they can spend some time off work and stress with their families or by themselves. Besides, to boost their outcome, you can grant extra holidays based on their extraordinary performance in the organization. This motivates the productive employees to continue maintaining the same productivity and the unproductive employees to increase their outcomes to prevail the benefits of such extra leaves. I understand it can be a little difficult for the HR managers to manage such leaves of all the employees, but they can use the HRMS software solutions to manage the performance and link the leave benefits to the same.
Besides that, you can allow your employees to have flexible work hours. This allows them to take care of their personal responsibilities like dropping their kids at school, taking care of their parents or relatives, which makes them a good father or a good son at home. When the organization takes such good care of their employees’ work-life balance, why would they hold back from giving more than a hundred percent of their skills and hard work to the company? The productivity of the employee will be increased due to the fact that the organization does so much for them, and in order to express gratitude, they work more efficiently for the organization.
In A Nutshell
There are many forces that can influence the employees to be more productive in their work. These factors can be emotional, financial, biological, social, or cognitive. When the HR manager understands the factors driving the worker’s motivation and manages to align the employees’ personal goals with the company’s, he/ she manages to take the business to another level of success. All your employees ask for is a little understanding and cooperation.
I guess it would be apt to say that in this case, A little in this field can last a long way.
