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Incentivizing our employees effectively goes beyond merely boosting their paychecks. Taking the correct approach creates a positive ripple effect within the company culture, strengthening work relationships, and fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and motivated to contribute their best. Here are five different ways that we can incentivize employees as business leaders in order to fuel a cycle of growth that benefits both the individual and the organization.
We are doing ourselves a disservice if we don’t realize the pragmatic effects of utilizing money
Incentivizing our employees with money is a rational and pragmatic practice in the business world, but many businesses do not utilize it to its full potential. We can incentivize people with money in order to get them to do what we want them to – and especially, the things we don’t want to do ourselves which create interference in our personal or professional lives. This clears the interference and frees time to either make more money or engage in activities that we don’t get paid for. Employees benefit because, in addition to receiving quantitative value, they feel appreciated for their effort and are motivated to continue to make more money.
Incentivize people to have a healthy combination of engagement and availability
Employees who are both engaged and available are essential to the productivity and culture of a business. Engaged employees know the values of the company on a quantum level, ask questions, offer their help, and are students of the calendar. Available employees are readily engaged, accessible to providing their help and service to customers and other team members alike. However, employees who display just one or the other do not add value to the workplace. An engaged employee who is not available is unable to be of service to others, and an available employee who is not engaged has much less value to provide than someone with a combination of those traits. We must incentivize our employees to be engaged and available in order to ensure a productive workplace, where motivation and inspiration can thrive.
When people don’t ask for help, it costs us personally and professionally
Employees must be able to set aside ego and ask for help when they need it, as it can be instrumental to the success of a business. Failing to ask questions can slow down productivity and lead to mistakes that could have easily been prevented. In addition, workshopping a problem together can lead to greater and more innovative results that benefit everyone. We must foster an environment where employees feel comfortable approaching others with questions, as it strengthens work relationships and contributes to the positive trajectory of the company. Encouraging employees who ask for help inspires a self-assured team that can both receive and give in an abundant way.
We want people to feel comfortable and incentivized to tell the truth
Honesty is essential to the functioning of a business, but before we can be honest with others, we must be honest with ourselves. Employees who are honest with themselves are dependable individuals who have trust and integrity, can recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and are open to growth, which benefits the company. Lying creates dis-ease and damages our credibility, preventing us from flourishing and adding value to the business. Furthermore, once we are honest with ourselves, we can be honest with others, which is essential to building relationships with clients and customers, creating a trustworthy business, and making sales. An environment where employees feel encouraged to tell the truth will foster a credible business with everyone at ease.
Time is the dependent variable of all matter
Time is the factor underlying every activity and moment – therefore, being a student of time will contribute positively to our lives in each and every area. Incentivizing our employees to be students of time will give them the opportunity to add more value, ask for more help, and be engaged and available. One way to accomplish that is being a student of the calendar, which means that we are studying the calendar each and every day with a lens of productivity, accessibility, and gratitude, looking to maximize the opportunities that come our way. It gives us the space to find the light, the love, and the lessons in every moment of our schedules. When we teach and incentivize being a student of time, we enhance the productivity, accessibility, and gratitude in our lives and accelerate the compounding of results that we want.