How to Reward Your Startup Team and Keep Them Motivated

Modern understanding of reward in business always takes the shape of money rewards and bonuses. Not only that cash rewards can be difficult to give for an entrepreneur who works on tight budget, but it might not be such an effective approach for successful team motivation. In is TED Talk, career analyst Dan Pink presents one different understanding of the way of motivating your team that does not include bonuses and extra checks. Here you can see The Puzzle of Motivation from the point of view of scientists, not managers.

Keeping your team members motivated is what makes you more than a business owner – it makes you a leader. And being a leader is very important for the success of your company.

Inspirational leaders understand the importance of trust in the employee-manager/owner relationship. By trusting your employees and avoiding micromanaging them you are to make them feel more accountable for their responsibilities. They will feel more motivated to work harder in order to meet your trust and not to let you (and the other team members) down.

The biggest motivator for many people is the feeling of being appreciated. Many employers forget to share with their employees how satisfied they actually are with their work. Learn to appreciate new ideas and to stimulate the creativity thinking of your employees. Support their intention to create solutions for existing problems by taking the initiative. Flexibility in their decision making process is one of the best things you can give to your team members.

Your team members also have the need to personally grow, to improve, to learn and develop their skills. Give them the opportunity to grow and appreciate their work with recognizing their achievements. It is good motivator for every person to know that their hard work will be recognized.

As a leader, you should be able to set the right examples for your team members. If you are not motivated and passionate about your work, it is very likely the rest of the team to feel uninspired and unmotivated. Be the role model for your employees in order to create one highly-motivated team.