The ability of a business to be able to motivate its staff effectively is perhaps one of the most "key" issues for many companies around the world, because as simple as it sounds, it is equally difficult to be implemented properly and to keep up with the company's culture. So, let's look at important ways in which an organization can effectively motivate its staff.

Privileges other than salary

Benefits beyond salary are widespread worldwide, with companies providing something extra to people. For example, tax-free benefits to staff are something common in recent years due to the tax exemptions they provide to the company, but also the avoidance of deductions to the employee.

A common choice for companies is the meal benefits, which are either in the form of a voucher or in the form of a card. A very good solution is the GoForEat meal card and the meal voucher Chèque Déjeuner of Up Hellas which can be redeemed at cooperating food-related stores. However, the card GoForEat has the largest affiliated network and it can be used in shops related to food (e.g., coffee shops, supermarkets, restaurants, bakeries, patisseries and others) except for gas stations. This freedom offered is perhaps the key, so the employee knows that this product does not limit or "force" him to go to specific cooperating stores, but instead spend the money as he wants to. In addition to meal vouchers, the employer can also give gift cards to motivate people. One such option is the UpGift of Up Hellas that can be used in any store, all over Greece. With UpGift the employee can buy his favorite mobile, the bike he so wanted or make a gift to a loved one.

Remote work

From the start of 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic, remote work entered "violently" into our professional life, which may have been widespread abroad, but in our country is still at an early stage. Now, several businesses are introducing remote work, saving in this way significant amounts in resources, offices, etc. for themselves.

"People are more productive working at home than they would expect. Some thought everything would fall apart, but this didn’t happen. Many say they are more productive now" – Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO.

Remote working is one of the biggest motivations in the new era, as the employee can save the "dead" time from transportation to and from work. Here, it is worth mentioning that research from time to time has shown that this averagely ranges in 1-2 hours per day, time that if calculated on a monthly basis exceeds 44 hours and 500 hours per year. Let’s think about how much energy it “devours” and what impact it has on the employee's productivity. Certainly, there are also negatives of remote work, but it’s better to analyze them in more detail in a future article.

Active employee participation

The participation of employees in the procedures and the decision making of the company is something very famous in big organizations abroad. The feeling of employees that the company considers them important for its development can give a significant boost to their psychology and, as a result, they work with better mood and more passion to achieve their goals.

Here, we should mention that there are companies that have found smart ways to motivate the staff in this direction, having established a system of "generating ideas" by employees and awarding the best one as the "idea of the year".

The benefits that the company can have from such a system are significant, as on the one hand it "activates" the employee by giving him another motive to be productive and, on the other hand, it helps the company find solutions for important problems that arise. Let's not forget that the solutions come most of the time from the "frontline" employees and not from the executives, as they are the ones who face and manage a lot of problems every day.

Training Courses

Staff training is of the utmost importance for the development of a company, especially at a time when developments are "running" in an ever-changing environment. Therefore, if an organization doesn’t want to be left behind and be led to a stagnation, it should make sure to develop its human resources in every way, in order to be always ready to respond effectively to the new challenges that may come. This will also give the employee himself more motivation, as he will be able to grow along with the company and gain important skills for his professional development.

"You don't build a business, you build people. Then people build your business" Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker - Author.

The company can choose to train its staff in many ways, either internally or through external partners. The trainings don’t have to be related to the subject of the job but can vary from foreign languages to various seminars that can be chosen by the employee himself, for the purpose of his personal growth. An organization should never forget that by investing in its human, it invests in its own future, since the most important part of a business is its people.

Rewarding of the best performance

Another smart way to motivate staff is to reward the best performance. More specifically, many companies choose to inform a department / group on a weekly / monthly / yearly basis for the best performance, giving employees the motive to perform as best as possible, in order to earn something such as the best employee title.

In this way, the company gives the incentive to each employee to perform and achieve their goals, moving from the classic performance standards and turning it into a kind of game among its employees. In fact, it would be very good to give a small reward, such as a day off, a ticket to a performance or anything else the company can choose.

In addition to benefits other than salary (meal vouchers), remote work, active employee participation, training courses and rewarding the best performance, there are still many ways to motivate your staff. Let’s see more in my next article. I will be happy to hear your views on the issues I focused on and developed.

By Kyriakos Chousakos, Business Developer of Up Team