Loyalty, Morale and Motivation

Loyalty. You can work to engender feelings of mutual interest and concern between your business and your employees. Before employees will feel loyal to you, they have to know they can trust you to be fair and to consider their interests as well as your own.

There’s no foolproof method for gaining someone’s loyalty, but many of the same things that hold true in a personal relationship also apply in an employment relationship. The keys to a positive relationship are trust and respect. When employees feel respected, they will generally respect you and the business in return. Following are some hints for gaining an employee’s respect and trust:

Listen and respond to an employee’s questions and concerns about the job.
Treat your employees with courtesy and respect. Never lie. Don't abuse or swear at employees.
Recognize and reward your employees for a job well done.
Get your employees’ input when making decisions that affect their work.
Give employees greater responsibility or latitude in making decisions as they demonstrate their ability and honesty.
Treat all your employees fairly and impartially.
Be firm, but not tyrannical, when making decisions and disciplining employees.
Don't belittle employees, in private or in front of others.
Apologize or admit to employees when you are wrong.
Give employees credit where it’s due. Don't claim credit for an employee's work or ideas.
Keep your employees informed about work-related matters. Don't treat your employees like children.
Lead, don't manage, your employees. Your willingness to participate in getting the job done can demonstrate that you consider your employees important members of your business’s team.
Don't build false hopes for raises or advancement.
Don't be intimidated by aggressive or ambitious employees.
Consider your employees’ personal needs.
Don't discuss employees with other employees, except when you're getting input for a performance evaluation.
Once employees know that you'll treat them fairly, you're more likely to inspire a concern for the well being of the business and the quality of their work.

Morale. Employees are likely to feel good about themselves and your business when they're treated fairly, paid well, and recognized for the good work that they do. Factors such as interesting work, feeling "in on things" and having their work appreciated mean a lot more to employees than you may think. If you're interested in keeping your employees happy and productive, take these issues seriously.

The simplest way to find out what your employees are feeling is to ask them. Are they getting what they want out of the employment relationship or is there some problem with working conditions that you can correct? Annual or semi-annual performance reviews are a good time to discuss this. Recognize that workers may not always be honest with you, either because they fear that you may retaliate, or because they don't really know why they are unhappy. But in most cases, you'll learn enough to be able to make changes where necessary.

If you suspect that you may have a problem with morale, you need to determine which aspects of your workplace are creating the dissatisfaction with the job and then remedy them. Even if you don't have a morale problem, you may want to motivate your workforce into higher levels of productivity.

Motivation. Every employer’s dream is to have employees who care as much about the success of the business as they would if the business were their own. You may never get employees to care that much, but you can foster a sense that what’s good for the business is good for them.

Look for the types of problems that lead to low morale and take the steps necessary to eliminate them.
Get employees involved and establish a team mentality. As the leader, set goals and challenge employees to meet them.
Give your employees the authority necessary to achieve the goals that you've made them responsible for achieving.
Let employees have the latitude (within reason) to experiment and try to find new ways to help the business reach its goals.
When your employees do well, reward them appropriately.
Participate in community or recreational activities as a team (e.g., softball team, charity runs, etc.).

One way to ensure that you're providing a workplace that your employees like is to periodically seek their feedback. Having informal talks with your employees that aren't tied to any particular event, such as a performance review or an employee complaint, can be enlightening. You can glean all sorts of information about your business from this investment of a little time. Here's a sample script that suggests some ways to get meaningful feedback about job satisfaction.