The Oves Enterprise way into motivating your employees: The only guide you’ll need to read

Maybe the title is a bit flashier than needed. However, it brought you here, didn’t it? Now, let’s cut the whole marketing, branding approach and speak—write, if you want, sincerely: I cannot promise you that the content below will be the last you’ll ever need to read. But, what I can promise is that what follows is written from a genuine perspective—mine, as an entrepreneur and CEO of Oves Enterprise.

If I learned something from my experience is that there is no all-size-fits-them-all approach when it comes to motivating your employees. Generic approaches, such as a wad of cash, pep talks and unpleasant consequences only have a limited impact. So, I had to go deeper than the basic, common sense—so to speak, ways of motivating.

What I do know for certain is that people are different. Depending on their age, experiences and future aspirations, some might crave autonomy, have room to grow and to add achievements on their list, while others just want to get their monthly pay to invest it in securing their future.

Since everyone has different factors that motivate them, I had to find each and everyone’s (right) buttons to push. But, before I’ll tell you what I did, let me paint you a more generic picture. According to social psychology, there are three different types of motivations and each one of them can be activated differently. They don’t exclude each other necessarily, but some of them are more prominent. And when you know this, it’s easier to tailor your way.

Type 1: The intrinsic motivation or the one that fuels from the inside

It’s called passion. Or interest. These type of people do enjoy a certain type of work, such as programming. Or they enjoy a certain type of job, such as working in an IT company or a bank.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with passion per se—after all, the emotional dimension can go from mild to high. But, the thing with intrinsic motivation is that sometimes people just do things because they enjoy them. They don’t plan on becoming an authority in certain fields—they just do it for fun. However, this type is closely correlated with the next one.

Type 2: Achievement motivation or the one when you want to do or become better

This is the one that fuels the inner drive. That determines people to do several activities that will get them towards their goal. However, the irony of this is that even there is enjoyment in the endpoint, it might probably lack when it comes to the activities that have to be made to achieve it.

This type of motivation is dependent on having high commitment, relevant knowledge and/or skills, and constant feedback on progress. Moreover, to keep it alive, a high level of self-efficacy is needed—trusting yourself that you’re capable of walking the walk.

Type 3: Extrinsic motivation

The money. Or not necessarily the money, but having an extrinsic motivation means the activities are done to get a future value—or to avoid some future disvalue. Although this type of motivation is generally frowned upon (you can hear peers snickering about “oh, they do it for the money), studies suggest that acting for the future is essential to survival and well-being. The latter is associated with wanting money for security, family support, getting compensated for your efforts, pride, leisure activities and so on.

So no, extrinsic motivation is not selfish, nor should be considered as negative. On the contrary, this type of motivation helps in preventing or lowering stress and having overall control of their own life and happiness.

How I motivate my employees at Oves Enterprise

Now, the question that probably arises on everyone’s minds is this: “okay, okay, fine, there are 3 types of motivations. But how do you find what motivates MY employees, colleagues etc?” As I said, there’s not a generic recipe similar to cooking. But, below you can find what I do to motivate them.

1. I ensure I ask my employees about their whereabouts

I know, as a CEO you are constantly busy. You’re the one who has to make sure the company is kept afloat and all that. You don’t have time to chit-chat and to become the occasional therapist. I know. You don’t have to do that daily. But, you need to have open conversations with your employees.

“But why don’t they come forward to tell me they are dissatisfied or demotivated? It’s not like I have time to think about everything and everyone now.” you might say. In an ideal world, this would happen. Everyone will ask for a meeting where they would spill their hearts out and tell you everything that bothers them. But we’re not living in an ideal world. We’re living in reality, where people are tied to their anxieties and worries. True, some employees are big chatters and will storm in your office and tell everything they dislike, but they are few—and usually pretty annoying. Hello, personal space? But, most of them—especially developers, despite doing this. And they shut up and bottle up their feelings until it hits them in the face. Or gut.

So, here is what I like to do.

I schedule bi-monthly or monthly meetings with them. I ask them how they are. Genuinely. I ask them how the work is going, ask them to be honest about it, no lies. I ask them if they’re dealing with anything at home—especially in times like these. If I hear that they have issues in task responsiveness, especially when they have a clean record in delivering, I ask them why is this happening. Not judgemental, but genuinely. If I am aware that they or someone from their family has health issues, I inquire about that as well. Maybe they feel overwhelmed by everything.

Sometimes, when I feel like I’m reaching dead ends, I ask them what makes them want to get up from the bed in the morning. Where do they see themselves in a medium to a long time frame? What do they want to do forward? How can I help? I always emphasize that honesty is highly appreciated. And that everything that’s being laid out in front of you won’t be used later against them.

2. Listen. Like truly listen to their answers

Don’t dissociate when this happens. Don’t just nod and nod away, and when they leave, you instantly forget what they said. Take notes, if needed. For instance, I provide insights, if I have any. I ask follow-up questions if the answer seems unclear. I try to show them that I care about them. I know, it’s difficult to be present when you have other tasks on your mind. But it’s highly important to establish a good relationship with your employees—for them, the relationship with you is very important. After all, bosses’ words have a greater impact on their confidence and aspirations. More than you, in this position, can realise.

3. Don’t make assumptions

Now, picture this: you’re in the office, you’re talking with your employee. They start saying something and you cut them off mid-sentence with a phrase that begins with “I know….”. That’s it. It’s done. It’s over. They won’t go on. Nobody is comfortable to contradict their bosses, thus they will shut up, close themselves in and just agree with you—despite you being wrong.

You know the result to this, right? Nothing’s gonna change. Which takes me to the next clue.

4. Realize your employees are different

I know. It’s hard. It requires a mental effort of putting yourself in their shoes—to try to realize their needs and train of thought is the complete opposite of yours. Moreover, I try to not invalidate their feelings. If they feel they don’t have enough autonomy, I don’t go and tell them “I don’t think so” and start listing examples. If they say “I feel like I’m under a lot of pressure” or “I believe my actual tasks stifle my creativity”, I avoid denying them.

5. Find and offer solutions

Usually, in this case, plenty of vague answers such as “I could use more family time” or “I’d like to grow” or “I’d like to learn more” arise. “. Now, it’s quite hard to pinpoint the exact type of motivation they have. Especially since most of them are intertwined. But you can go forward in proposing several solutions. Below I elaborated a few generic solutions, I use as starters in a discussion.

If they want to do more, from a creative or task point of view. Ask them what type of work available in the company they would like to do, based on their experience. Then, match them in a job that matches their interests and make them aware of new tasks and opportunities.
If they want to become better. State the performance standards clearly, support the development of the required skills, set challenging, yet achievable goals and provide them with objective feedback about their progress.
If they are worried about their future. Help them in self-development, allow them autonomy, make goals meaningful—emphasize a higher purpose, recognize their merit based on fair and objective judgments, discuss future raises, encourage their life planning and nonetheless help them coordinate their work with family responsibilities, by offering them the chance
It’s not easy to find the right buttons to push. But, by asking the right questions and by listening carefully, you’ll find the right recipe for each and one of them. And in the end, you’ll probably have a more motivated and even happy employee. We all know that happy employees make the business run smoother.