Google "Maps" the Way to Employee Motivation

A Google search of the words "employee motivation" found 32,800,000 websites in less than half a second. Though developing a program to successfully inspire your workers might take a bit more time and (hopefully) require fewer resources, it may be easier than you think! 

“Motivation” is about giving your people a “motive for action.” By understanding what each individual values and incorporating this knowledge into your management/coaching plan, you can consistently meet the goals of the employee, the supervisor, and the overall Department.

Tech giant Google is a great example. They don't just focus on new programs and inventions, they focus on people. Since their founding, they have grown from a two-man operation to a company with over 182,000 employees worldwide. Here are some employee motivation tips gleaned from Google's success in their attempts to hire and inspire:

Make fun a regular part of work Okay, so you'll never do "dress up days," tea parties, or hold a costume competition for Halloween. But what about introducing something festive, casual, or even entertaining, something small, low-cost, fun, and regular? What about a Friday casserole day, fantasy football pool, or gratitude shout-out during team meetings? Every year on April Fool's Day Google allows their employees to plan and execute some major tricks and gags for viewers throughout the world. One year, for example, they announced a new job role of Pokémon Master at Google.

Make employee satisfaction, even happiness, a priority You're unlikely to follow Google and have a team of people monitoring employee wants and desires, but keep in mind that happy Public Safety employees have been shown to outperform their colleagues significantly. One easy way to build satisfaction is to use a suggestions box, placed in a common area in your Department. Doing online surveys or asking people during supervision what could we do to improve your worklife have been shown to boost morale and increase engagement.

Inspire and encourage people Many are aware of the “80-20” rule at Google, a rule that allows employees to spend 20 percent of their time on their own personal projects. Google engineer Chade-Ment Tan wanted to achieve world peace in his lifetime. Other companies might call him crazy, but not Google. He went on to design a course about the increasingly popular topic of mindfulness and became a “New York Times” bestselling author, with his class being the most popular taught at Google. While world peace may be outside your employee's sphere of interest, allotting small amounts of time to explore ambitions can go a long way toward improving allegiance to your Department.

Provide training opportunities Find out what goals your employees have and identify ways to help them achieve their ambitions. No matter how unrelated it may be to their work, if members of your team want to learn a new skill in your company, let them. Cross-training was long ago proven to accelerate both employee knowledge and productivity. Studies measuring the effectiveness of such programs have repeatedly demonstrated that training investments improve companies' bottom lines.

Offer perks you can afford Your Department may not be the “Google” of the Public Safety world, but offer your employees perks and benefits outside the norm. You may not be able to offer bowling alleys, free haircuts, and gym memberships like Google, but small tokens can go a long way. Free breakfasts, healthy snacks, movie tickets, etc. are some simple and easy-to-implement ideas.

The moral of the story? If there's a lesson to be learned from Google's success, it's this: Emphasize employee satisfaction as much as Department protocol and responsibilities, and you'll soon be "mapping" your way to higher engagement, better employee morale, and substantially improved retention!