How to Keep Your Team Motivated

With a steady stream of new, innovative tech companies popping up daily…there’s generally a lot of competition and opportunity for tech professionals to make an impact. So, how do you keep your team motivated, even through the not-so-challenging minutiae of bug fixes, testing, necessary evils of bureaucracy, etc.

John Pepper, Boloco’s (a restaurant chain) actually says it best in a recent NY Times article. “If we really wanted our people to care about our culture and care about our customers, we had to show that we cared about them,” he told the NY Times.

If you’re having a hard time keeping your team motivated through the tough or dull times, here are five ways to show your team that you care about their well-being:

1. Rewards: Gratitude and Recognition

Even a simple “thank you” can go a long way. After one CEO’s assistant had been very helpful, Mark Goulston,  M.D., F.A.P.A. is a business psychiatrist, told her: “I hope your company and your boss know and let you know how valuable and special you are.”

“She emailed back, ‘You don’t know how much your email meant to me.’ It made me wonder — when was the last time her boss had thanked her?”

Here's the full article by Goulston on Harvard Business Review.

2. Rotational Programs for New or Recent Grads

This tactic is especially useful for retaining your younger talent. New to the job market, it’s in their best interest to gain as many valuable skills as possible. And as soon as they see that ceiling inching closer and closer—chances are, they’ll be back on the market fishing for better growth opportunity.

Rotating your Millennial may be a good option to consider. Of course, it’s a pretty big investment. Many companies offer a rotational program for leadership development. You get a chance to get a more in-depth experience, mentorship and training in multiple, related departments. There’s a clear career launch pad and path for growth.

Folks who do what they choose (and like to do) bring more to the table. Plus, “wouldn’t it be great for a company to have a person who understands where he belongs and more importantly, why he belongs there?” says one rotation engineer at Intel on its blog. “It’s like having a new born and skipping the bad nights.”

3. ‘Developer Days’ Offer a New Challenge

No talented engineers or analysts want to be stuck staring at a bunch of aimless data that they can do in their sleep.

“If you want to foster innovation, bonuses won't work,” according to a Fast Company article that features an RSA video on motivation. “Rather, it's all about letting people slip from under line management and strike out on their own, on projects they care about.”

Even one day free of obligatory “stand ups,” check-ins and boring corporate-mandated projects can boost motivation to work not only hard but also creatively.

4. Empower them with Authority and Ownership

“I like to encourage each person to really own their area of expertise, their projects, their space—we try to make them feel and act like they really are the “CEO” of whatever project they are working on or whatever goal they are trying to reach,” says Chad Halvorson, CEO of thisclicks, makers of When I Work, a mobile employee scheduling and communications platform.

Rewards are useful…but can sometimes prove to be fleeting. It’s always on to the next one. To maintain motivation, it’s important to offer individual ownership.

5. Hire Folks Who Exude Genuine Passion for What they Do

Ultimately, folks who are truly passionate about their craft will reap a dose of gratitude from most anything they do. It’s about choosing folks who love what they do, and can be responsible for challenging themselves. So, ask about their passion during the interview.

“Smart people are curious about the world, and tend to find the interest and challenge in almost everything they do,” says Philip Su, Facebook London Site Lead on Quora. “Most things are fascinating if you look deeply or broadly enough.”