"You can make their day" - Ten Tips for the Leader About Employee Motivation by Susan M. Heathfield

As a manager or supervisor, your impact on employee motivation is immeasurable. By your words, your body language, and the expression on your face, you telegraph your opinion of their value to the people you employ. Feeling valued by their supervisor in the workplace is key to high employee motivation and morale. Feeling valued ranks right up there for most people with liking the work, competitive pay, opportunities for training and advancement, and feeling "in" on the latest news. Building high employee motivation and morale is both challenging and yet supremely simple. Building high employee motivation and morale requires that you pay attention every day to profoundly meaningful aspects of your impact on life at work.
Picture Mr. Stressed-Out and Grumpy. He arrives at work with a frown on his face. His body language telegraphs "over-worked" and unhappy”. He moves slowly and treats the first person who approaches him abruptly. It takes only a few minutes for the entire workplace to get the word. Stay away from Mr. Stressed-Out and Grumpy if you know what's good for you this morning.
Supervisors frequently ask, "How do I motivate employees?" It's one of the most common questions asked. Wrong question. Ask instead, "How do I create a work environment in which individual employees choose to be motivated about work goals and activities?"
The right answer is that, generally, you know what you should do; you know what motivates you. You just do not consistently, in a disciplined manner, adhere to what you know about employee motivation.
The ten tips, outlined in this article, are the keys to supervisory success in creating positive employee motivation and morale. The challenge is to incorporate them into your skill set and do them consistently - every day. Author, Jim Collins identified disciplined people doing disciplined things every day as one of the hallmarks of companies that went from Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't? ‘You can make their day.’
Here they are:
1. Your Arrival at Work Sets the Employee Motivation Tone for the Day
2. Use Simple, Powerful Words for Employee Motivation
3. For Employee Motivation, Make Sure People Know What You Expect
4. Provide Regular Feedback for Employee Motivation
5. People Need Positive and Not So Positive Consequences
6. It Isn't Magic. It's Discipline
7. Continue Learning and Trying Out New Ideas for Employee Motivation
8. Make Time for People for Employee Motivation
9. Focus on the Development of People for Employee Motivation
10. Share the Goals and the Context: Communicate for Employee Motivation
People expect you to know the goals and share the direction in which your work group is heading. The more you can tell them about why an event is happening, the better. Promote problem solving and process improvement teams.