How to Motivate Employees Without Spending Money

When we think of ways to motivate people, the first thing that comes to mind is to pay them extra to do the job.

For the most part that’s a great way to motivate someone, but when tasks are complex and difficult, some extra cash won’t get people to complete the task. Today we will go over some ways you can motivate your employees without spending a dime.

Accept That the Task is Hard and Boring

Before you do anything, you have to accept the facts. For example, when you commute to work, you are accepting the fact that you are going to spend the next hour of your life driving 30 miles per hour on a 6 lane freeway with thousands of other people who have accepted that same fact. Do they want to commute to work, no not really, but to succeed in life, they will just have to deal with it. This is something you need your employees to accept as well. When going over the task, acknowledge that this task is not fun, but in the end the whole company will benefit by completing this task.

Give Them a Good Reason as to Why the Task has to be Done

Once your employees have accepted the boring task, you need to tell them why its important to complete. Like I said at the end of the previous point, say something like how this will benefit the whole company, or how it will change the future of their job. You basically need to put on your presidential thinking cap and give a mini speech as to why this task is important.

Give Your Employees Autonomy on Tasks to Motivate Them

This is an important point, especially for complicated tasks which require analysis and problem solving. With these sort of tasks, there isn’t one single way to complete that task, as would be the case for something simple such as putting on the wheels in an assembly line. Think back to elementary school when you encountered word problems in math. You may have gotten the answer one way, while your friends may have gotten the same answer using some other formula. Apply this same logic to your employees. Let them do it the way the want, as long as they are completing the task.

By using these 3 tips, you aren’t spending any money to motivate your employees, besides there salaries :). In the end, its not all about money. Simple things like explaining why the task needs to be done or giving your employees autonomy are great ways to motivate people.

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