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Find the Key to Motivated

Employees

Special Report From: EasySmallBusinessHR.com

Imagine what happens when you ask an employee about their grand kids

or their upcoming fishing trip or their daughter’s recent wedding. How do

they look? It’s likely their face relaxes, a smile appears, and their eyes

gleam. What you’re seeing is joy.

What happens when you ask that same person about their job? Instead of

that blissful smile you’re more likely to see frown lines etch into their

forehead or the muscles in their neck and shoulders visibly tighten. Are

these motivated employees? Are they productive employees?

These have not been good times for employees or managers. Whether it’s

rumored layoffs or less money for yearly raises, tough economic

conditions will take the wind out of the most enthusiastic staff. But it

doesn’t have to be like that.

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Happy employees are more productive

Happiness boosts productivity. Let’s take a minute to think about kids.

Imagine giving your favorite 7-year-old a task. I guarantee their only real

concern will be whether the project will be tons of fun or a dreadful bore.

They’re not concerned about the outcome—they just want to have a good

time. And, if they are having fun, they’ll complete the task with joy and

enthusiasm.

Now imagine a group of adults given the same task. They’ll start by

spending a great deal of time arguing about rules, assigning roles, and

debating outcomes. In fact, they might spend so much time on the nuts and

bolts that they may not even produce an actual outcome by project’s end.

Not exactly the picture of motivated employees, is it?

Improve employee retention by making happiness a priority

No matter what you might think, happiness and productivity are not

mutually exclusive. Does keeping employees happy mean you need to

show Two and a Half Men reruns on the break room TV? Not necessarily.

But it does mean that managers should search for ways to bring joy—and

the productivity that follows—back into the workplace. In fact, when joy

returns to the workplace you might be surprised to find that you’ll improve

employee retention as well.

The secret to making employees happy?

There is no magic wand that makes employees want to get up and skip

into work each and every morning. However, learning more about what

frustrates employees the most when on the job is a smart first step. Maybe

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it’s the appearance of a double-standard among departments. Perhaps it’s a

supervisor’s lack of sympathy for extraordinary life circumstances, like

when an employee is late because an aging parent suddenly takes ill. On-

the-job frustrations—especially ones that have a solution—do not help

build motivated employees.

Businesses invest so much time into crafting a business plan that details

the minutiae of everything from marketing to insurance. Yet few take that

same care and consideration when it comes to a business’s most powerful

asset: people power. Don’t wait any longer to help that asset live up to its

full—and productive—potential. Nurture productive employees and

manage employee retention by discovering what saps the joy out of your

staff’s day.

Remember, happy employees are productive employees.

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Need More Employee Hiring and

Managing Tips?

Get Timely Free Advice on:

How to Find the Best Employees

Manage Difficult Staff

Fire Problem Employees

Develop Employee Policies and

Procedures… and so much more!

You’ll also get my FREE 6 page report:

Giving Your Employees What They Really Want