We all work to get paid but is money alone enough to motivate your employees?

 

Regardless of the type of business you run, you need to pay your employees fairly and in line with your competitors. If you don’t pay your people in line with the market, it can act as a de-motivator. However, once your pay scales are in line with industry norms, money alone isn’t really enough to keep your employees performing at a high level.

 

Paying in line with the market tends to achieve a rather neutral position, where there is no dissatisfaction among your employees but this does not translate into them being more motivated.

 

Various studies have shown that employees place a high value on freedom. They value flexible working, the opportunity to work from home when they want to and they want to work for businesses that invest in the technology that allows them to do this.

 

Business is not just 9 to 5 anymore – it’s 24/7. So why should your employees be tied to a 9 to 5 workday? Businesses can benefit from this flexibility – projects led by agile workers tend to be completed quicker. Progress doesn’t just happen between 9am and 5pm. When the pressure is on, your flexible employees will stay late and get the job done. Conversely, when things are quiet, they want the flexibility to go to the gym or do the school run. Modern professionals may well choose to work for an employer that has embraced agile working over and above a business that pays a little bit higher than market rate but doesn’t offer flexible working.

 

Assuming your firms pay is in line with the market, your employees will be focused on job satisfaction. Again, various research studies have shown that high performing employees are motivated by purpose. They want to understand how their work contributes to the overall success of the business.

 

They also want to get involved in projects and take responsibility for delivering their objectives. If you give people the opportunity to work on meaningful projects in a way that makes them feel they are contributing to the success of the firm, they will be more motivated. As far as recruitment is concerned, we are in the midst of a war for talent. The best people will stay with the businesses that offer them job satisfaction.

 

So, does money really motivate employees? Yes and no. There is an expectation that they should be paid in line with the market. Beyond that, they will focus on job satisfaction, flexibility, etc.