Tag Archives: Employee Motivation

Your Values Fuel Your Best Life

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When in your life has your heart sung from joy?  Can you remember the circumstances?  Likely, your core values were aligned with whatever you were doing at that specific time.  Unfortunately, most people haven’t spent time concentrating on their personal values.  It’s not to say that we aren’t aware of the values (family, religious and societal) we were taught.  Those values can be very different from the core ones we become more aware of when provided the opportunity to examine what is important and why.  Let’s talk about the different values we hold and why.

 

Types of values

The definition Merriam Webster uses to define values is “something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically desirable”.  To be more precise, values are beliefs or philosophies that are important to how we live and work.  Our values can drive our actions and decisions.

There are three categories of values every person is exposed to—superficial, chosen and core.

  1. Superficial values are those values we think we should live by because someone taught them to us. These are values that we have not challenged. For example, values a parent may have passed on like giving to others is more important than taking care of yourself.  Many people spend most of their lives trying to take care of everyone else and end up disillusioned and unhappy because they thought taking care of others was more of a priority to caring for themselves.
  2. Chosen values are those that we select to uphold as consistently as possible. An example could be a Catholic going to church every Sunday or honoring the Sabbath if you’re Jewish.  You may be disappointed in yourself for not celebrating your faith but you probably won’t be greatly dissatisfied if you miss a week.
  3. Core values are those on which we hold and base our lives. We know we’re living within our core values when we’re happy and satisfied with what we’re doing and the decisions we’ve made. We are dissatisfied, reluctant or embarrassed when we are not living them consistently.  For example, if a person’s core value is teaching and he/she is not in a position to teach, he/she will likely feel disconnected or unhappy unless the need to teach can be fulfilled in other areas of life.

For years, I believed I knew my values.  I was a family person, a hard worker, caring friend.  I believed in being “good” and respectful, taking care of others.  Some of these values ended up being superficial, ones that I took on but didn’t bring me satisfaction.  I felt overwhelmed at times because I was taking care of others and ignoring my needs.  It was when I was dissatisfied that I was not living within the core values important to me.

 

What you can do today to clarify your values

Write down your values as you believe them to be.  Examine why they are important to you.  Are they central to your happiness?

When I took a deep look at my values I realized there were a few that I had not been actively engaging with when I was making decisions.  For many years, I had not been considering my spirituality in my decisions.  This left me feeling adrift as if I didn’t have anything to anchor me.  Once I was able to define what spirituality meant to me I was able to make decisions more easily and quickly.

If you’re not sure where to start in examining your values, Google “Defining Your Values”.  There are many resources available to help you.  Here’s one link from Wikihow that is a good place to start.  https://www.wikihow.com/Define-Your-Personal-Values  Don’t be discouraged by the time it takes to uncover your values.  You will need to spend enough time thinking through where they come from and what purpose they serve you and if they will continue to help you make good decisions.

 

Living a values-based life

I’m much clearer on what I want, what I do and how I’ll go about achieving my goals and making decisions now that I’ve clarified my values.  This past year one of my values came to life through starting Paradise Workplace Solutions.  Learning is critical to my happiness.  But it wasn’t until I was in a situation where I needed to gain knowledge as business owner that I realized the full energy and passion that was driving me to make this business successful. My heart sings every day because I’m working on my business and learning along the way.

Identifying your core values and living them out is what will make your heart sing, your life fulfilled and guide you to your true purpose.

Susan O’Connor is CEO of Paradise Workplace Solutions and coaches clients to connect their personal values and passions to their business goals.

What Motivates You To Go The Extra Mile?

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Motivation can be energizing.  Do you remember a time when you were inspired or you motivated someone?  Do you remember what it felt like?  The thrill of the spark igniting within you, or helping a child, friend or employee help themselves and seeing the ember catch fire.  The energy is contagious.

That same energy is in your organization, namely your people.  You know you’re likely to put in more effort and care when you are motivated and feeling good about what you’re doing.  Your employees are the same.  They will put in extra effort if they are engaged and feel appreciated.

Increase engagement, increase profitability

In a recent global Gallup poll on employee engagement with 82,000 teams, the results showed 21% higher profitability for those organizations in the top quarter compared with those at the bottom.  Shockingly, 85% of employees are disengaged or actively disengaged.1 That’s a lot of people who need motivation and a good deal of profit that never makes it to the table.  Obviously, there’s a great deal of work to be done globally.  Yet, it’s your business we’re focusing on now.

You probably think about motivating your employees with salary, benefits and a nice work environment.  Those incentives are a given in the current labor market.  You need to do more.  The good news is that you can and it doesn’t have to cost you much.

Start motivating your employees today

  • Be authentic when you praise a job well done. Acknowledge good work but don’t dilute your compliments by praising all the time.
  • Find out what motivates your employees individually. People are inspired by many different factors.  Observe and ask what motivates each person.  Then, acknowledge them in the way they prefer.
  • Work with employees who are causing problems or not meeting expectations. Your employees are watching how you handle someone who is not performing.  Don’t ignore or downplay the problem.  Your employees are impacted and want you to step in to handle the situation. Be honest and helpful to the person who is struggling.  Find out what he/she needs to be successful.  If you don’t see improvement after making a good effort to support them, you will likely have to let them go.  Sometimes, an employee doesn’t fit with a company’s culture or have the skills to do the job.  Be supportive and fair so your employees know that you treat everyone fairly.
  • Talk to your employees about their development. What work fuels their passion?  Is there an area they want to explore?  Providing a safe environment for employees to discover new talents can keep them inspired and engaged.  Share in their discovery.  Acknowledge their abilities and support them in strengthening their weaknesses.
  • Hear what your employees are saying. Listening to your employees is the most cost-effective way of acknowledging and engaging them.  And you could learn something you didn’t realize about your business and the people who keep your business running.

Uncover what motivates your employees

Here’s a simple way to get specifics about what motivates your employees.  Ask them! Let them compile a list of options for recognition for a job well done.  Some examples of both monetary and non-monetary items could be

  • Time off work to participate in a community or non-profit event; like Habitat for Humanity
  • Opportunity to take on additional responsibility
  • Breakfast or lunch with a more senior employee or company executive
  • Development class, seminar or conference that is of interest to the employee and the company
  • Time off; an extra vacation day or a few hours on a Friday afternoon
  • Gift card or small cash award
  • Public recognition among peers; like at a department meeting
  • Trophy or award certificate
  • Tickets to a sporting or cultural event of the employee’s choice
  • A small token of appreciation, like a food gift basket, sent to the employee’s home so that his/her loved ones can see the company’s appreciation.

Talking with employees about how they like to be recognized and motivated is an opportunity to communicate about performance, expectations and the value of your employees.  Always connect any recognition with performance and the value an employee brings to the business.  Reinforce the behaviors and skills needed to make your business successful.

Below, share some ways a company has actively engaged you?

1 Building a High-Development Culture Through Your Employee Engagement Strategy, Gallup, Inc. Washington, DC, 2019.

Paradise Workplace Solutions, LLC works with business owners to improve productivity and profitable growth by aligning people strategies to the company’s business plan.