Imad Ghennouni is an award-winning motivational speaker who travels the world with his work, inspiring people to take actions towards their personal and professional goals. Imad El Atiki El Ghennouni has a corporate background, having occupied leadership roles in various fields, including financial management, sales, and HR. This article will look at workplace morale, exploring the many benefits of motivating and inspiring staff.
In an increasingly competitive business landscape, workforce motivation is no longer a “nice to have” – it’s a necessity. While the focus of business owners largely remains on the bottom line, the benefits of a highly motivated workforce are potentially vast.
There is an intrinsic link between employee motivation and employee engagement, which, in turn, can improve staff retention. With a Gallup poll suggesting that just 33% of employees feel engaged with the company they work for, experts estimate that employee disengagement has cost the global economy somewhere in the region of $1.9 trillion in lost productivity.
Edel Holliday-Quinn serves as chief leadership psychologist at the Centre for Psychology. She explains that recognition triggers the brain’s feel-good chemical, dopamine. As Ms. Holliday-Quinn points out, simple acts of acknowledgment have an outsized impact on engagement, be it through a bonus or a shout out at a meeting. Neuroscience shows that motivation activates the brain’s reward centers, increasing energy and performance. As Edel Holliday-Quinn sums up, when people care, they perform.
Research from Gallup also suggests that just 20% of employees feel connected with their company’s culture. Instilling and maintaining a great company culture ensures that employees feel supported, encouraging cohesion, with coworkers reaching out to each other when a colleague needs help or becomes overwhelmed. When workers feel connected with their jobs and the company as a whole this positivity rubs off onto others, helping to enhance overall performance, with closeknit teams working together to reach company goals.
Motivation theories hinge upon gaining a clear understanding of why people act the way they do. Motivation theories explore various factors that impact professional behavior, such as physical rewards, personal satisfaction, and what encourages employees to achieve their work goals. Gaining a thorough grasp of motivation theory helps businesses to improve productivity. When an employee feels motivated, they are happier and more likely to give their all to complete tasks and hit targets. Using motivational theories in tandem with organizational development strategies helps businesses to create environments that are more conducive to enhanced performance, creativity, and success.
One of the best-known motivation theories is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is based on the premise that different people have different levels of needs and that these must be met in a specific order. At the bottom of the list are basic needs like shelter, safety, food, and water, followed by psychological needs, such as a feeling of accomplishment and social connections. At the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are self-fulfillment needs, where people strive to meet their potential. Theorizing that each level builds on the one below, Maslow suggests that once lower needs are met people move up the hierarchy, focusing on more complex needs. This means that for workers to excel in the workplace their employer must meet their basic and psychological needs. While basic needs may include salary and healthcare benefits, research shows that many employers fall short in terms of meeting the psychological needs of employees.
As the driving force that compels every individual to get things done, motivation should be a key priority for employers. In addition to boosting productivity and improving the effectiveness of teams, motivating workers drives staff retention, as well as encouraging personnel to take pride in their work, delighting customers and improving the company’s resilience.
