Employee Motivation: Tips for Entrepreneurs from IdeaCrossing

An interesting news article I have read in the net.

Employee Motivation: Tips for Entrepreneurs
Source: IdeaCrossing
Posted: 2008-07-14

July 14, 2008 – Cleveland, OH - The success of new business ventures is tightly tied to employee motivation, and profitable entrepreneurs are serious students of the art and science behind motivating their employees.

“Understanding the diversity inherent to employee motivation is important to a startup’s success,” said Tiffan Clark, Marketing Vice President of JumpStart Inc., the venture development organization behind IdeaCrossing, a free online resource that connects entrepreneurs with investors and provides entrepreneurs with a multitude of resources to help grow their business. “Employee motivation is different from person to person and from business to business. The successful startup ventures we see pay close attention to the key factors that drive employees to greatness.”

Employee Motivation 101

The basics of employee motivation are consistent across most organizations and include:

• Enthusiasm of leadership.
  If you demonstrate enthusiasm through good times and bad, you’ll find your positive spirit is contagious.
  
• Employee Interaction.
  Be available for regular, meaningful face time with your team; this will help to keep the lines of communication open between you and your employees.
  
• Recognition.
  Consistently compliment a job well done.
  
• Incentives.
  Cash isn’t always king; a flexible workplace allowing for no-hassle personal time and family obligations is important to employees, and goes a long way in fostering loyalty and spurring motivation.

Employee Motivation for Top Talent

Though usually self-starters, the best employees typically require more from employers to remain motivated over time. A primary motivator for exceptional talent is having the ability to speak their minds in a free and unrestricted fashion. Offering channels for feedback, and acting on that feedback, will go a long way to retaining and motivating your key people.

The opportunity for self-improvement is another powerful motivator for high-performing employees. Providing your people with opportunities for professional growth through continual increases in responsibility, as well as education, is a known method for keeping your best talent stimulated and energetic. Finally, don’t be afraid to consult a trusted business mentor for advice on employee motivation; business mentors provide living proof for what works and what doesn’t. Online business communities such as IdeaCrossing streamline the process of connecting business mentors with entrepreneurs seeking advice on important matters such as employee motivation.

It pays to remember that unhappy employees usually leave supervisors and managers, not jobs and companies. In addition to fostering motivation through positive action, be sure to avoid these consistent killers of motivation:

• Lack of clear organizational goals and employee expectations
• Failure to provide performance feedback
• Fostering an environment where fear prevents innovation
• Threatening your employee’s position or income – probably the easiest way to scare top talent into initiating a job search

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About IdeaCrossing
IdeaCrossing is a free Internet resource available to all individuals and organizations with an interest in supporting and promoting entrepreneurial activity. IdeaCrossing helps entrepreneurs find the assistance and investment capital they need to launch promising new business ventures. Additionally, IdeaCrossing serves the Angel and Venture Capital communities by identifying and screening new investment opportunities. Simply stated, IdeaCrossing is about creating the connections that build businesses.

For more information contact Tiffan Clark at tiffan.clark@jumpstartinc.org or call 216.363.3400.