Building a Motivation Machine for Your Retail Team - an FAQ
One Friday each month, I dedicate the post to looking at some questions I have heard recently from developing leaders. Sharing those questions and my thoughts for them is a way for me to spread the information to as many leaders and future leaders as possible. If you have a question about leadership, or just a situation you would like some additional insight on, please email me at Effective Retail Leader. Let’s take a look at this week’s question.
I have a great plan for this year, and we are even off to a good start. How do I keep the motivation high for the team?
Asking about how to motivate a team is a common question I hear. So, I appreciate this question because it raises a good question, and can provide insight for many others. Motivation is tricky. I believe that is because it is difficult for someone else to motivate another to do something, especially consistently. I subscribe to the idea that leaders can inspire, but not really motivate. Motivation comes from within. I recently wrote about the difference between inspiration and motivation and how they work hand in hand.
There are many ways to inspire a team that leads to motivation, and what works best can vary depending on the individuals involved, the type of work being done, and the specific goals of the team. Connecting with intrinsic motivators of individuals will produce the best results for the long term. Using more extrinsic factors can be a good way to jump start a new project or set of initiatives. At a store or district level, this can be as simple as a leaderboard or a contest. Rarely will those sustain the momentum over time, or engage all team members.
The good news is, in this case, you mention that you are already off to a good start. You have momentum in your sails, and using that to fuel more looking ahead will be helpful. The more you can connect that to what you may have established as goals or your vision at the start of the year will reinforce that things are working well.
To continue to build on that, there are three steps you can take:
Keep the focus on the vision
Continue to connect back to what you communicated as the vision for the year. It may begin to feel overstated, but trust me, everyone needs to continue to hear the goals and vision. By incorporating real results and the behaviors of the teams to the success, it will keep the team energized to do those things more and more. The expectations remain clear, and that is at the core of every success story.
Recognize the success
Recognition touches on both internal and external motivation factors. You will need to know what each team member values most. Seeing their name at the top of a scoreboard is great for some, and less meaningful for others. A public display of recognition can be a real motivating factor for many people, while others prefer and respond very favorably to the more private ‘thank you’ and show of appreciation out of the spotlight. Either way, a genuine show of gratitude goes a long way in inspiring your team to be engaged and remain committed to the vision’s outcome.
Provide new opportunities
Being a part of something successful is a significant factor for many people’s motivation. Identify where team members can contribute more. What new exposure or experience can you provide to them? Growth, development, and opportunity do not always need to translate into a promotion or new title. Special projects or challenging tasks appeal to many people who value those types of growth opportunities. These types of options can be as simple as leading the morning team huddle, or being the person that updates the store’s scoreboard each day or week. If it is something beyond what they normally do and can contribute to the ongoing success towards your vision, it will add value overall. Plus, this will be an opportunity for that person to gain additional experience and recognition for their contribution.
Motivation is about culture as much as anything else. If you have an environment where results matter, and everyone contributes, that is a big stepping stone to everyone’s ongoing motivation to success. As the leader, you set the stage, and keep the scenes changing. This inspiration for the possibilities is the real key to generating a motivation machine for your team, and success towards your vision.
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