Motivational Skills For The Workplace

Motivation is the reason for doing what you do. It is the driving force that causes you to begin and maintain a particular behavior.

Motivation can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. The type of motivation experienced depends on where the driving force is coming from.

Intrinsic motivation is the type of motivation whose influence comes from within the person. It means that you do something for a sense of personal satisfaction as that is rewarding enough.

For example, you may enjoy helping others because it makes you happy. It can also be referred to as self-motivation.

On the other hand, extrinsic motivation depends on external factors. It means that you do something based on what you will receive out of it. In this case, you may work harder because you will receive an incentive such as an award, a bonus, attention, or a promotion.

This kind of motivation may also be influenced by the need to avoid a negative outcome, such as one that includes a punishment or physical pain.

Why Is Motivation in the Workplace Important?

Every organization needs motivated people. They need to have the right kind of motivator for every situation. Motivation in the workplace is important for a variety of reasons.

Below are some of the reasons why employees in every work environment need to be fully motivated:

• It increases employee productivity. Employee productivity refers to the output of individual employees over a specified period. For many organizations, the goal is to improve employee productivity.

  If you feel motivated, you tend to work harder and generate higher output. Overall, your organization will experience a better performance, which will translate to higher revenues.

• It reduces employee turnover. Employee turnover refers to the loss of talent within the organization. The more employees a company loses, the higher its employee turnover is.

  Employee turnover is costly. When an employee leaves, the company experiences a lower level of productivity and thus loses money. Additionally, it will lose money when advertising job vacancies and training replacements.

  A high level of employee motivation is essential to ensure that an organization retains its talent in the long run. It helps maintain employees’ interest in the work they do. And because they will enjoy working, they will stay on for a long time.

• It improves talent attraction rates. Talent attraction refers to an organization’s ability to convince people to work for them.

  The performance of a company greatly depends on the quality of its employees. So, an organization that struggles to attract great talent will experience lower productivity and revenues.

  Think about it. Would you be willing to apply for a job if someone tells you that the work is boring or pays a low salary?

  If you are intrinsically motivated, the thought of working in a boring job won’t appeal to you. And if you find extrinsic rewards such as money attractive, being paid peanuts will make you look for a job elsewhere.

• It creates a positive work culture. Work culture is the way people do things within an organization. It affects how employees relate to each other, their clients, and business partners. It also determines how well employees perform. They will become more productive, efficient, and innovative.

  A positive work culture makes life enjoyable for everyone. People will love going to work each workday rather than hurrying to leave their workplaces.

  If the work environment creates dissatisfaction, even those with an intrinsic desire to work hard will stray from the company eventually. There is only so much negativity human beings can take before they become unmotivated.

  So, if you want to enjoy a positive work culture, find work in an organization that motivates its employees.

Motivational Skills

Motivational skills refer to your style of doing things that inspire a specific behavior in yourself and others. These abilities will determine your motivation towards accomplishing all that you are assigned to do.

A variety of motivational skills exist. You should include them in your resume to improve your chances of getting the job of your dreams.

Here are some of the skill sets you can highlight for hiring managers:

• Goal-setting skills. Goal-setting refers to your ability to achieve the results you desire for your future. Its value is usually intrinsic.

  Setting goals begins with ideation. Think carefully about what you want to do and why, before creating your goals. Then come up with an action plan to achieve those goals.

  Your ability to remain motivated when you encounter obstacles largely depends on the nature of your goals.

  Inspirational goals that feel achievable will improve your chances of sticking with the process to the end. They will give your life a sense of purpose and direction. Such goals are measurable and allow you to see if you are making progress.

• Communication skills. You can communicate well if you can exchange information with other people without confusion.

  Your ability to communicate well will ensure that your colleagues or subordinates understand the objectives you share with them. Their knowledge will then power their drive to do their tasks so that they achieve the shared goals. They will work harder because they know what is expected of them.

  Good communication skills enable you to listen to other people’s contributions. And when you hear people out, you make them feel respected and important. Colleagues that feel a sense of ownership in the dealings of an organization will be motivated to accomplish their tasks.

  Communication also improves relationships in the workplace. People who understand each other are less likely to have conflicts. That creates a positive workplace culture. It is that positivity that enables them to stay motivated each day.

• Leadership skills. Leadership skills include the ability to influence and guide individuals, teams, and even the entire organization.

  A good leader inspires self-motivation. You must find ways of pushing people to achieve great things even when there is no external reward for them. They should feel a strong sense of satisfaction about what they do.

  Leading by example is the best way to go about creating self-motivated individuals in the workplace.

  Always provide positive reinforcement so that people stay motivated. Try acknowledging your subordinates’ achievements publicly and offering financial rewards such as bonuses. The latter strategy works well on salespeople.

  Team building is another aspect of leadership. Great teams work like well-oiled machines. Each member knows their role and is accountable for their actions.

  As a good leader, you should allow your team to make some of the decisions. By empowering them, you push them to complete their tasks and achieve set goals for the overall good of your organization. This is what motivation is all about.

• Emotional intelligence skills. If you are emotionally intelligent, you can understand and manage your emotions as well as the emotions of others.

  Emotionally intelligent people are very self-aware. So, you can do a self-assessment to determine where they are at emotionally and mentally. Are you happy or unhappy? Do you feel discouraged? Are you stressed out?

  Your emotional intelligence skills enable you to think deeply about your aspirations. Sometimes, you need to reexamine them to rediscover your purpose.

  These skills also enable you to self-regulate your emotions when you encounter difficult challenges that make you feel like quitting. You can then rethink your plans and adjust them if necessary so that you stay on course.

  How well you motivate others also depends on your emotional intelligence. This skill provides insight into other people’s emotions so that you can understand their perspective. Once you do that, you can motivate them to do what needs to be done for themselves and the organization they work in.

• Problem-solving skills. If you are internally motivated, then the need to find the best solutions to your problems can be a reward on its own. Your drive to find efficient solutions can make you very persistent.

  There is a sense of satisfaction that comes from using logic, creativity, and critical thinking to solve organizational challenges. So, even when you experience failure, you will quickly dust yourself up and move forward.

  Your problem-solving skills can help you create innovative products that fulfill a customer need, find solutions to global problems, and improve processes to make companies more efficient.

  Plenty of people desire to work with and for problem solvers. The feeling that they are part of something greater than themselves will keep them motivated too. They may be willing to do anything that is required of them so they can help work towards finding effective solutions to problems with their team.

• Collaborative skills. You need to work well with others to accomplish tasks and achieve goals.

  If you are not a good collaborator you may find it difficult to stay motivated. Others may also find it difficult to feel motivated especially if you take actions that make their lives harder when they work with you.

  You can improve your collaboration skills by becoming accountable. Take responsibility for your actions. That influences your behavior and drives you to perform well and complete your tasks. Also, learning to give credit to your teammates motivates them to work harder.

  Sharing feedback lets your team know where they went wrong so they can be inspired to do better. The desire to do excellent work will motivate them intrinsically.

• Teaching skills. Can you help people acquire knowledge? Can you instruct and show them what to do so that they become competent?

  Sometimes people feel discouraged because they don’t know what to do. And when they ask for help, it’s not given to them. But if you can teach or train them, you will empower them to change their behavior. Their new abilities will motivate them to higher levels of productivity.

How to Choose Motivational Techniques

Motivational techniques are the stimuli that influence people’s behaviors in the workplace. Many factors affect how to choose motivational techniques. Below are some of these factors:

• The motivational theory a leader subscribes to. Leaders can determine the direction of a company based on their belief systems. The way they justify their beliefs and directions will influence the motivation of their employees.

  Different motivational theories exist. These include Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory, Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory, and Alderfer’s Existence, Relatedness, and Growth Theory among others.

  Depending on what a leader believes in, he or she would make decisions on what incentives to provide the subordinate members of the organization.

• An organization’s resources. Resources refer to sources that an organization can use to derive a benefit. They include time, money, labor, and raw materials.

  The availability of resources will greatly influence the motivational technique that can be used to influence employee behavior. For example, you cannot offer a financial bonus when a company is making losses. The financial resource is not available.

• The nature of the people you want to motivate. People have different motives for doing things. What influences the behavior of one person may not have the same effect on someone else. The motivational technique that you use will depend on what drives the person you want to motivate.

Examples of Motivation in the Workplace

Below are examples of ways to motivate yourself or other people in the workplace:

Final Thoughts

Motivation can be influenced by a change of mindset or by your external circumstances. But you need to understand what drives you or other people before you can motivate them.

Take time to acquire the motivational skills that you need to drive the change you want to see. And always include them in your resume.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.