70 Awesome Ways to Motivate Employees

Sam Campbell

In your journey to foster a motivated and thriving workforce, this article serves as a comprehensive guide.

Hi! We’re When I Work, and we’re all about helping hourly teams work better together. We do that through employee scheduling, time tracking, and team messaging. And as a small business ourselves, we know exactly how important it is to inspire your team to get the best out of them—that’s why we’ve created this article for you.

Dive in to discover 70 unique and effective strategies to inspire and motivate your employees, ensuring they remain engaged, productive, and satisfied in their roles.

Key takeaways:

Employee motivation directly impacts business productivity and profitability.
Recognizing accomplishments, demonstrating trust, and promoting a positive work environment are pivotal for employee morale.
Flexibility in work schedules and an emphasis on work-life balance can significantly boost employee satisfaction.
Encouraging creativity, ensuring open communication, and promoting team unity are essential for a cohesive work environment.
Offering professional development opportunities and valuing employee feedback can lead to a more engaged and innovative workforce.

Table of contents

70 ways to motivate employees
What are the benefits of motivating employees?
Promote flexibility in your workplace with When I Work
Work motivation FAQs

Motivate your team and increase accountability with employee scheduling. Give your team 24/7 access to the schedule and let them swap and drop shifts as they need to. Try it free with When I Work.

When it comes to growing your business, you can use all the fancy tools and systems you want: but if your employees aren’t motivated to do great work, you’re not going to get very far.

There are a number of reasons why your team members might lack the motivation they need in order to do their best work each day—they could be feeling unappreciated, bored with their responsibilities, or unhappy with the benefits and flexibility offered to them.

If you’re looking for team motivation ideas this quarter, try these 70 simple ideas to motivate your employees at work:

1. Gamify, with incentives

Make a game out of work, and provide rewards when goals and achievements are met. This will increase employee engagement, which is a key indicator of workplace satisfaction and motivation.

2. Recognize accomplishments regularly

Recognition for accomplishments shouldn’t be rare. They should be regularly done. These moments lift up team members and give the others a break from their day.

3. Demonstrate trust

Micromanaging is not trust. Constantly correcting or re-doing work is not trust. If you give an employee a task and they do it differently than you would have, trust them enough to let it stand.

Show trust whenever it is possible.

4. Be positive

How the boss leads, the rest will follow. If you’re a grump, they will be, too. Set the tone for the workplace by being positive.

5. Allow flexibility as much as possible

84% of working parents said flexibility is the #1 most important factor in a potential job (compared to 75% for salary)! Be flexible about where they work, how they work, and when they work.

Giving your team scheduling flexibility is a great way to show your employees that you value their contributions and want to make their work-life balance easier to manage. Use a tool like When I Work that offers flexible self scheduling, so you can put the shifts you need on the schedule, and your employees can choose the ones that fit into their lives best.

6. Give them a chance to lead

Really lead, don’t tell them they’re in charge and then come in and micromanage everything they’ve done into the ground.

7. Gather feedback for rewards

Encourage “spontaneous” feedback by providing an incentive. Maybe you send out an email survey to your team, and offer to give those who respond permission to leave two hours early.

8. Give them a purpose

Employees need to know what they do matters. Are they just tightening widgets, or are they building battleships? Make sure they know what the purpose of their work is, and make it a noble one.

Related reading: Motivating Employees: A New Guide For Managers

9. Support their new ideas

You’re not the only one with ideas. Encourage, support, and sometimes even implement the new ideas they have. Whether it has to do with a new window display or trying a new employee scheduling software, both the employee and the business can get a lot from simply beta testing a new idea.

10. Insist on work-life balance

Insist on work-life balance: it’s important. Insist they take breaks. Refuse to allow them to log in on their home computer after hours. Whatever it takes. Implementing a digital employee time clock can help make this an easier transition.

Want to learn the best way to schedule employees to promote work-life balance?
Check out: Shift Planning: 6 Steps To Plan Shifts Like A Pro

11. Let them see the end game

Not only do they need to know their purpose, but they need to know what everyone is working towards. Help them see, as much as possible, that the idea of team unity is necessary for that end game. Keep them posted on how it’s going.

12. Give them a chance to rest

Can you institute a napping time? If you can, you’d be surprised at how many takers you’ll have for it.

If naps aren’t in the schedule, then offering PTO is another way to let your employees have a chance to rest and recharge. Creating a PTO policy may seem tricky right now, but it will help with employee retention and hiring in the long run.

13. Be transparent and honest

In all things, be honest. They can’t trust you otherwise, and it’s hard to work in fear and distrust.

14. Set goals of all sizes

Have big goals, project goals, department goals, personal goals—whatever it takes. But make sure you have smaller goals that are attainable, otherwise they’ll feel failure and disillusion at never reaching goals.

15. Give each person power

No one wants to feel powerless. Give them power either by involving them in decisions that affect them, or by letting them try on leadership roles periodically.

16. Focus on individuals, not just teams

Your employees are people, not faceless teams. Communicate and think of them as such.

17. Have an open door

Remove any barrier that might keep them from talking to you, whether it’s limited office hours, a fussy personal assistant, or lack of availability.

18. Have a morale officer

If you’re too busy to be bothered with employee morale, put someone else in charge of it. Make morale a priority. Encourage fun events and revamped procedures so the workplace isn’t drudgery. Make morale so purposeful there’s someone doing it as part of their job.

Also read: 9 Ways To Fix A Toxic Work Environment

19. Keep your promises

Employees can’t trust someone who doesn’t keep promises. And they resent it, especially if they were promised financial or career rewards. Broken promises demotivate immediately.

20. Let them be unique individuals

This is about respecting personalities. For example, your ideal open workplace may be torture for an introvert. Respect their individual nature as much as you can and accept that your ideals may not be theirs.

21. Listen to them

Look them in the eye, know and use their name, ask questions, and respond appropriately. Take to heart what they say. Take action on what they say.

22. Provide free and helpful services

Bring in a personal trainer, an accountant at tax time, or a chair massage professional. Find a service that your employees would love to have access to once in a while, and offer it to them for free there at work.

23. Start workplace traditions

Give them something to look forward to, something that is unique to their place of work. Holidays are a tradition for everyone. Make traditions in the office that they can call their own.

24. Send hand-written thank you notes

Writing a real note on real paper and sending it to an employee means much more than just another email. It means you took the time.

25. Make sure everyone gets a mentor

Maybe not everyone wants a mentor, but make them available to those who do.

26. Use reward points for useful things

Set up a point system for your reward program that employees can use for useful and tangible things, such as cash gift cards, appliances, travel, and more.

Related reading: 32 Awesome Rewards You Can Offer Your Employees

27. Avoid boredom

You might take comfort in routine, but it may feel like a boring rut to your employees.

Be purposeful about spicing things up, changing things around. Move the office furniture, bring in different caterers, paint the walls a different color, change the weekly schedule. Just avoid mind-numbing sameness.

28. Provide healthy food

Birthday cake is fine once in a while, but make fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt, and other healthy foods available. Stock your vending machine with healthy options.

29. Pay them well

Pay them the most you can. Pay them what they’re worth, and then some if possible. Simply not having a payroll blunder is something employees love. Link your employee scheduling app to your payroll app and make things easy for you and always correct for your employee.

When you use When I Work, you can take advantage of our payroll integrations that reduce errors and help you save time during the processing. Accurate payroll is a key driver in employee morale and trust.

30. Don’t fear change

Change can be good or bad, but don’t fear it. If you fear it, you’ll be pitted against your employees who are motivated to try new things. Embrace it and see where it leads.

31. Help employees reward each other

Create a system where employees can let you know of the good work or attitudes of their coworkers. Let them feel the pleasure of knowing they helped another get a reward.

32. Celebrate personal milestones

Remember birthdays, hiring anniversaries, and any other achievements they’ve accomplished outside of the workplace.

33. Send them to leadership training

Give them a taste for the leadership world. Even if they’re not in a management position, consider it training for the day when they might be.

34. Give them stock

Make the health of your business matter to them by giving them stock through an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP).

35. Let them bring pets to work

If possible, let them bring pets. This is not appropriate for all businesses (e.g. restaurants), but if it is, make it so.

36. Communicate clearly what you expect

Don’t be afraid of confrontation. Don’t be concerned about making everyone happy. You must communicate your expectations clearly. This helps them feel secure in their job in the long run.

37. Help them continue learning

Offer to pay part of tuition, or send them to classes and training. Offer free accounts for online courses. Build their confidence by helping them learn more.

38. Set an example

Be the kind of leader they want to follow. Walk the talk. Work harder than they do. Make it clear to them, by what you do, that you don’t ask anything of them that you don’t ask of yourself.

39. Be purposeful about encouraging creativity

You can say you love creativity, but do you do it? Insist on practicing it through creative outings, exercises, group events, and even designated creative areas where they can express themselves with games, writing, art, etc.

40. Love laughter

If your team is laughing, that’s a good thing. Don’t reign it in.

Also check out: 18 Ways To De-stress And Re-energize Your Team

41. Make unity a serious goal

Are all your goals about productivity or finances? Don’t forget to include unity. A team that is unified ultimately produces more and builds your business. Have a plan for measuring and keeping unity front and center.

42. Make rewards achievable

If your incentive and reward system takes impossible work to achieve, it isn’t really a reward system. Make it easy to begin reaping benefits of small rewards so they know it’s possible and they continue on to the larger rewards.

43. Stay on the cutting edge

Junky equipment? Outdated computers?

Nope. Keep the tools your employees use as close to the cutting edge as you can. Using the best tools is exciting and instills pride in employees.

44. Offer promotions and bonuses

Employees should benefit financially, and in their career, for great work, loyalty, and continued success.

Not every position has an opportunity for advancement. This is discouraging for employees. Find a way to create advancement through tiered pay levels, additional responsibilities with corresponding title and salary adjustments, and so on, even if it isn’t truly moving up the ladder. There must be a sense of forward career movement.

45. Discipline and correct privately

Never, never, never shame an employee in front of others. If there’s a problem, deal with it in private. Never yell, take down, or criticize an employee while others are looking on.

For more tips on correcting behavior, check out: The Quick Guide To Employee Discipline: What Every Manager Needs To Know

46. Praise in public

Conversely, make praise and recognition a public thing.

47. Reward safety

Give incentives to those who practice safety in the workplace. Make safety valuable.

48. Stand by your team

The customer may always be right, and your boss may be trolling for blood, but you are to protect your team. They need to know you believe in them, trust them, and will protect them from anything ugly and undeserved.

49. Avoid nepotism

Nothing destroys motivation like knowing you won’t get promoted because you’re not a relative or you haven’t been there as long as other employees. Promotion and reward should be based on hard work, qualifications, and excellence. Anything else is demotivating.

50. Use what works, not what’s popular

The latest management fad isn’t the right one. Use what works with your employees, not the techniques someone far removed from your business tells you is the hot, new trend.

51. Ask employees what they want

Not sure what they want? Try asking them. Everyone loves to share their opinion.

52. Get everyone to participate

Not everyone participates in events and meetings the same way. Personalities and courage vary. Find a way that makes everyone comfortable to participate. Don’t cater to the loud and bold only.

53. Be fair and neutral

Skip the emotional response. Avoid favoritism. Don’t make conflicts or challenges worse by lifting one up and putting another down.

54. Use team building activities

Since unity is your goal, regularly hold team building activities. Make sure they’re fun, and seem like a reward in and of itself.

55. Work beside your employees

Are you always in your fancy front office? Get down in the trenches and do the same work alongside your employees sometimes. Understand what they experience.

56. Create rewards that are unique

Maybe you don’t have a pile of money to hand out as an incentive. Find other ways to reward employees that are unusual and inexpensive.

57. Reward groups that have done well

Focus on the individual is vital, but you also want to motivate teams and groups. Reward them for a job well done using group incentives.

58. Make feedback safe

Make it easy for employees to leave feedback. It shouldn’t always be in a face-to-face employee review meeting. Use the old-fashioned suggestion box if you must.

59. Bring in teachers

Bring instructors and experts into the workplace. Provide free and valuable training right where they work.

60. Reward healthy living

Healthy workers aren’t tired, worn out, and taking sick days. Have a system that rewards healthy choices, such as biking or walking to work, or using a 15-minute break for a quick walk. Give your employees a FitBit and hold a competition for who walks the most steps each month.

61. Do not patronize

Insincerity isn’t motivating. It’s insulting. Make sure your praise is genuine and free from any form of manipulation.

62. Guard the workplace culture carefully

Don’t assume your great workplace culture will naturally flourish. Take its temperature regularly and find any bruises.

63. Learn what demotivates

Some people are motivated by rewards, others by praise, and still others by a job well done. Blanket motivation techniques don’t work, and may do harm in some cases. Tailor your efforts for each person.

64. Give them an allowance

Whether it’s an allowance for books, decorating the office, or sprucing up their cubicle, give employees a set amount each year.

65. Give them professional development training

Send them to training that teaches them not only about job-specific topics, but also on things such as procrastination, being debt free, time management, and so on. Help them be successful people, on and off the job.

66. Don’t spring things on them

You might like surprises, but your employees don’t, particularly if it affects their job. If big changes are coming, let them know what way the wind is blowing early on. Announcing a huge change one morning, out of the blue, is upsetting.

67. Get rid of systems that fail

Your loyalty is to your employees, not your system or procedures. If it isn’t working, show them you’ll scrap it for their sake. Being locked in a bad system is demoralizing and makes them powerless.

68. Let them solve a problem

Got a problem? Give it to them to solve. Show them you trust and respect them enough to do it.

69. Create a buffer board

Let your employees select a few members to create a committee that will serve to hear employee concerns and report them to management. Not every employee is comfortable talking to the boss directly.

70. Use cross training

Train employees for other job positions, if they want to. Help them become invaluable by being able to serve in multiple positions and possibly have future advancement.

What are the benefits of motivating employees?

There are several benefits when it comes to motivating your employees, including:

Better productivity and performance
Motivated employees are high performers that work harder and focus more on creating better outcomes. This makes them more productive, and ultimately, your business becomes more profitable.
Better customer service
Who do you want to serve you? The employee who is doing the bare minimum? Or the person who is motivated to go above and beyond to make your experience great? The answer is clear.
Reduced turnover
Workers who are genuinely motivated to do their job don’t quit. If your employees are happy and motivated to do great work every day, they’re not looking for other jobs—they’re looking for more to do at your workplace.
More innovation
When your employees are motivated and happy, they’ll handle change and uncertainty better. They’ll come up with new, more creative ideas on how to increase productivity, better the customer experience, and more.
Improved employee engagement
A highly-engaged workforce is the key to a healthy bottom line. If you have employees who are not engaged, using some of the simple motivation ideas above could nudge them in the right direction.

Promote flexibility in your workplace with When I Work

Your employees are the heartbeat of your business. Even if you can’t offer them monetary rewards, you can offer them intangible benefits that show you care about them—that will go a long way toward keeping them motivated and engaged. One simple benefit employees love is flexible scheduling, which gives your employees more autonomy and control over their schedule. Empowering your employees is easy with When I Work employee scheduling. Find the right plan for you and get started with a 14-day FREE trial today!

Work motivation FAQs

Why is it important to keep employees motivated?

Your bottom line depends on having motivated employees. If you want your business to be successful, you need motivated, high-performing employees to do their best work.

How do I measure employee motivation at work?

Ask them! Put out an anonymous survey to ask about their motivation and satisfaction levels. You’ll quickly learn if you have engaged employees or if you need to add some new programs to increase morale.

How do I get started with motivating employees?

Any of the 70 tips in this guide is a great place to start. Even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend, there are plenty of ideas that are inexpensive and easy to implement.