Employee Motivation

In a perfect world, employees would return to work from winter holidays ready to start a new year. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case and staff may need a little extra help to reach their peak performance levels. We’ve already discussed some simple steps one can take to get employees back on the right track. The following are some tactics to avoid.

Negative Verbal Motivation

Reminding staff that they just had a holiday is not going to encourage them to work harder. It is more likely to increase any despondency they may be experiencing. While pointing out an employee’s lowered performance level once may effectively bring the problem to their attention, repeatedly mentioning it throughout the week, before the employee has had time to make a significant correction, is demoralizing and unlikely to produce the desired results.

Starting With Employee Reviews

While performance reviews are and important and invaluable tool in the business owner’s repertoire. However, the prospect of impending reviews often creates anxiety for employees and can become a whole new distraction. Don’t cancel them altogether, as it’s important for staff to have a clear understanding of their performance. Simply postpone them for a little while until everyone is back in the swing of things. Getting through the first few weeks of a new year can be a tricky prospect for business owners. Avoiding the above mentioned pitfalls and offering a little extra understanding for a week or two will help encourage employees to work toward their previous performance levels and get back to the top of their game.