For motivational methods to be successful, clear targets, goals, aims, purpose and values between employees and the organisation must be set up, as these are the most fundamental aspects of motivation. By ensuring that each employee is aligned with the organisation, it will be easier (and sometimes not even necessary) to apply motivational tactics.
Motivation will be most difficult to pursuit when the connection between the employees and the organisation is not aligned, and set by clear goals and aims. If motivation does succeed in this instance, it is often only for the short term.
Motivation is complex, and many businesses often employ motivational speakers to help them with this mammoth task. Different things motivate different people, and it is important to recognise this to use it to its full potential.
There are many motivational theories that can be applied to businesses, however Erik Erikson's life stage theory is one of the more successfully applied theories. This theory recognises that motivational receptiveness and potential chances from day to day and from situation to situation in everyone. If the targets and goals are solid at the beginning, then all motivational methods will work better.
As different people are motivated by different things, it is important to recognise that people are always motivated by something they can relate to. To make the most of this, businesses must identify with their staff what motivates them the most, to fully exploit any motivational methods. This forms a solid foundation with the staff on which to build on, and without it any motivational tactics are likely to fail.
Once these building blocks have been put into place, motivational tactics can be applied. One of the more popular tactics is to employ a motivational speaker such as Sebastian Coe, while others use motivational quotes, poems, posters, stories and team building exercises to develop motivation over time.
One of the advantages of using a motivational speaker is that the speaker will share success stories, failure stories and their own advice on how they have dealt (or not dealt) with different situations. This gives the employees something solid to relate to.
Whilst these motivational tactics can be applied, it is also important to remember that a good leader has natural motivational skills and inspirational techniques. The motivational speakers and motivational tactics will impact employees; however their effectiveness may not be long lasting, depending on how well they are executed. For guaranteed long term motivation, there must be a manger or leader that has natural motivational skills. These might just be a positive attitude towards the staff, or giving them your trust.
Playing games is also a great way to motivate staff, as the sense of winning in any context will improve motivation. Once they have achieved something, people will be more motivated to achieve and do better when working, regardless of context.
All of these tactics, methods and skills have positive impacts on staff motivation, but it is up to you how they are executed.