If you scroll through LinkedIn while sipping on your coffee, it won’t be too long before it hits you; BAM - the motivational quote!
Motivational soundbites and quotes are scattered liberally throughout popular culture. And for good reason - we all love a bit of motivation sprinkled on our breakfast cereal. Because they inspire us, make us believe in ourselves, and give us an extra bounce in our steps.
Unfortunately, it takes more than a quote to motivate your team….
Lack of motivation is one of the biggest problems facing the global workforce. For 90% of global organizations that rely on frontline workers, 48% of the workers have considered quitting their job in the past year, our research reveals.
And, with 70% of frontline workers believing there are a lot of other employment opportunities available to them, it’s an easy step to quit and search for something more rewarding.
We get it, motivating frontline workers is much harder than motivating an ‘office team.’ There isn’t the luxury of regular face-to-face contact, working in the same space, or team building days.
But motivating your frontline workers is far from impossible. In fact, with the right strategies to motivate your team, it can be simple and fun. Here are three ways that we find work like a dream:
1. Recognize the recognition
We’ll let you into a little secret …
The one thing your frontline workers want more than anything else is enjoyment at work. They want to smile and be happy. And what’s one of the easiest, simplest strategies to motivate your team and to slap a huge, ear-to-ear grin on someone’s face?
Recognition.
We all love it when we’re recognized for the work we do. Words like “Well done”, “Great work”, and “Way to go champ!” can have a huge difference in how your employees feel about work.
Still, 33% of frontline workers don’t feel valued at work. We believe better recognition can send this number plummeting. As we mentioned, it’s much tougher to motivate frontline workers - especially when you don’t always have contact with them.
It’s why the best WFM apps have engagement and recognition features built into them. From awarding badges for special achievements to using gamification as a way to reward and recognize employees, the latest tech is changing the game and making it far easier to keep your employees engaged, motivated, and onboard.
2. Learn to listen
37% of frontline workers say their employer doesn’t listen to them, yet listening and feedback mechanisms are at the root of employee experience, says Betsy Summers, Principal Analyst on the Future of Work at Forrester. It’s one of the most important strategies to motivate your team because it shows you have empathy, it put yourself into your employees’ shoes, and you understand what’s important to them.
Ask them what they need from your company to stay engaged and productive - and then take action. It will reinforce your culture and strengthen your relationship with your workers.
As former Starbuck CEO, Jim Donald, told us: “Care more than others think is possible or necessary.”
One way of finding out how your employees are doing is to use your WFM tool to send instant surveys to your employees. This will help you find out what their pain points are and how you can make their lives easier.
In retail, healthcare, and hospitality especially, employees play the most important role in delivering the best possible customer experience. Not only will you be able to understand what life is like on the frontline, but you’ll also be showing them you care and their input is valued.
3. Turbocharge your training
Stereotypically, frontline workers are not known to “climb the career ladder”, but lack of career progression is an emerging frustration in the responses we received in our survey.
Frontline workers want to have a future in the companies they work for. In fact, 47% of employees said they planned on staying long-term (up to two years) in their jobs.
While others stated that the inability to move forward in their job was a major reason they considered quitting - and much of this stems from a lack of training. A whopping 60% of frontline workers say they aren’t given any training to help with career progression.
With better training programs and schemes in place, you’ll be investing in your employees, keeping them motivated, and giving them a reason to stay in their jobs.
A ‘culture of caring’ where you prioritize employee welfare and empower them to enjoy work should be a must. Not only will this mean happier and healthier employees, it will also improve staff retention, improve customer satisfaction and make your business more profitable.
