We’re now into February, but the chances are good that those January blues are still lingering for many workers in the UK. This can have a serious effect on motivation, which can impact overall productivity. Fortunately, countering this phenomenon is possible, with the help of a range of different small measures. The ones you deploy will tend to depend on the shape of your business.
Table of Contents
Office jobs
Working in an office can be severely demoralising, if the environment and culture aren’t set up right. The rise of hybrid and remote work has impacted office life in ways we still haven’t fully reckoned with. According to a survey by MarketingWeek, around four-fifths of all marketers consider flexible working hours to be a key job characteristic.
This style of work might allow for greater flexibility, which will suit workers with personal commitments during the working day. However, it can be difficult to track progress and deliver in-person motivation to an overly remote workforce. Online team-building events travel incentives, and employee engagement incentives can only take us so far – useful though each of them might be.
Retail workers
Retail is an industry where worker motivation matters a great deal since there’s a heavy emphasis on in-person interaction between workers and customers.
Some incentives might boost motivation. If you’d prefer not to hand out salary increases and bonuses, then you might consider employee discounts and performance-based gift cards as an alternative.
Of course, it’s also a good idea to single out high-performing employees for public praise and to make it clear that they have an opportunity to advance through the company.
Construction sites
On a construction site, there might be limited time for downtime – especially when a project deadline is approaching. If you have a serious health and safety policy in place, then you might spend a lot of your time ordering construction workers to adhere to certain policies when it comes to PPE and working practices.
It’s only fair to grant some leeway in the other direction. A permissive attitude toward other practices, like personal onsite radios, might go a long way toward generating goodwill. A Milwaukee radio will tend to stand up to the stresses of a building site.
Education
It’s easy for teachers to become demotivated, especially when we consider the sheer quantity of work they’re expected to get through. Teachers tend to devote considerable energy to ensuring that students are well cared for, but they don’t always receive the same care themselves.
Providing teachers with the skills they need to care for themselves can go a long way toward boosting mental health. As a side benefit, teachers who are skilled in self-care can transmit those skills to their students.
