There’s no debate that 2022 has continued to be a tough year for many people. Energy and morale may be down, motivation may be depleted, and some of your team might even be experiencing a touch of burnout. Understandable, but thankfully, there are things you can do to help set them up for a better and stronger new year in 2023. Below are some of our favorite tips for reigniting your team’s fire and enthusiasm for the come new year.
Invite Routine Convos About Future Career Aspirations
Not all team members will feel comfortable initiating conversations about their future dreams and goals, but that doesn’t erase their desire for deeper meaning and a stronger impact in their work. Make initiating these conversations a regular part of the routine. It will help your employees feel comfortable sharing, and be sure to offer helpful feedback for performance improvements, so they are ready should their dream opportunity present itself.
Map Out Succession Plans for Your Team Members
Speaking of aspirations, if you want to keep your team engaged, motivated, and excited to work for you, care enough to create succession plans for them. Your open convos about their goals can help you map them out and help them feel as though they are moving forward and growing in their role. Offer them a detailed roadmap to advancing, and offer mentoring programs and training to help them along the way. They’ll level up their skills along with their enthusiasm, which is a win-win in our book!
Reconsider Your Management Approach
It can be a lot of pressure to run a small business. You want to be a strong leader and see the company and your team succeed. However, that can sometimes result in you taking too hard of a line with your team members and jeopardizing not only their performance but your relationships with them. Tough love can be helpful in some cases, but more often, it leads to higher levels of stress, shoddy performance, and higher turnover rates. Taking a softer, more empathetic approach may help generate a more positive response and result.
Consider Flex Schedules and Remote Work Days
As much as people love meaningful work and earning a living doing it, they also love downtime and the ability to call the shots in their own schedules. You could offer something like a four-day workweek once or twice a month or allow them to work remotely so many days per week or month.
Alternatively, allow your team to set their hours as long as the workload for each week is getting done. For instance, if they want to come in and work three extra long days per week to shorten their work week and have more days off, why not allow it? Those extra days off could be exactly what they need to enter their work days recharged with excitement and renewed motivation each week.
Provide Excellent Compensation and Reward Output
There’s not a person on the planet who enjoys working for subpar pay. It’s depressing, and depending on their situation, it could make them feel as though they never quite escape survival mode and trying to make ends meet. Compensate your team well, and they will be excited to contribute to the growth and success of your business.
Instead of offering rewards for someone putting in a lot of hours, try rewarding them based on their actual output. If they can get something done in two hours that you expected to take eight, give them the rest of the day off to recharge and enjoy their lives. Work is important, but living life is too.
Celebrate and Honor Your Team
Whether it’s making a hoopla over a new hire, acknowledging birthdays and anniversaries, or celebrating milestones, treating your team like people and valuable relationships, not just worker bees, goes a long way in boosting morale and keeping people content and productive.
No one wants to feel as though they are expendable or not valued by an organization they invest a large portion of their time and energy into. And you don’t have to make grand gestures to make people feel seen and valued. Sometimes it’s the smallest ones that mean the most.
You can do many things to honor your team and help them stay engaged and motivated in their roles. Hopefully, these tips can get you started. However, you do it, lead with integrity, try new things, and help your team kick off 2023 strong! A strong team starts with a strong leader.
