Everyone is bored at work… except for elves
Unless you are Santa Claus and your employees are toy building elves, it seems unlikely that there aren’t moments when your employees are bored at work. The sad reality is that the majority of employees aren’t being motivated well enough. With the saturation of online businesses and small companies springing up, business owners need to be aware of the positive benefits of having a well motivated and hard working staff. While this fact may seem obvious to the business owner or president, websites like “i-am-bored.com” and “bored.com” only serve to prove that something is missing in the work environment.
Statistics Canada states that many work absences are directly correlated with instances of boredom at work. When workers are completing repetitive tasks or do not feel challenged enough in their work environment, they become more prone to taking personal days. This lowers your business’ return on investment (ROI) and deceases your opportunity to get the most done in a day.
Although, as the boss, you can not always completely remove boredom from the office, there are a few steps you can take in order to encourage motivation and get your staff excited about working.
What is the Answer?
- Pay Attention and Give Recognition. This seems absurd to mention, but the more attention and “atta-boys” you give out to your staff, the harder they’ll want to work for you. People work harder when they feel as though they’ll receive attention for their hard-work.
Statistics Canada states that many work absences are directly correlated with instances of boredom at work. When workers are completing repetitive tasks or do not feel challenged enough in their work environment, they become more prone to taking personal days. This lowers your business’ return on investment (ROI) and deceases your opportunity to get the most done in a day.
Although, as the boss, you can not always completely remove boredom from the office, there are a few steps you can take in order to encourage motivation and get your staff excited about working.
What is the Answer?
- Pay Attention and Give Recognition. This seems absurd to mention, but the more attention and “atta-boys” you give out to your staff, the harder they’ll want to work for you. People work harder when they feel as though they’ll receive attention for their hard-work.
- Spend Time One-on-One. Calling an employee up into your office, or dropping them a personal email creates a connection between you and your employee. If you show them you’re interested in them as a person and an employee they are more likely to remain loyal and work harder.
- Set Goals and Give Rewards. Even if you don’t have the resources to give your staff raises, there are always other rewards. Organize a staff lunch or set up an incentive program. If you set realistic goals and reward those who complete them, you’ll spark healthy competition and motivate your staff to get the job done.
- Training. Constantly updating your staffs’ training will ensure that your employees are qualified and keeping busy. If you ensure that your employees are gaining new skills, they can update you on what your company needs to move forward.
- Encouraging Leadership. When you give your employees a leadership role, you keep them busy as well as give them a sense of participation in the success of the business. Encouraging leadership roles also helps delegate workloads and ensures work is being completed according to schedule.
Let’s face it, you’ll never be as awesome as Santa Claus and you’ll probably never have 100% motivated and enthusiastic elf-like employees every day, but it doesn’t mean you can’t try. Give extra coffee to those employees looking burned out and hold meetings to discuss progress. Remember, the more boring the office setting is, the more hits websites like bored.com will be receiving. It’s up to you to create a stimulating work environment for your employees.
And hey, if you still can’t get the boredom out of your employees, maybe a kidnapping trip to the North Pole would be a good idea…
