It’s tough to keep your facilities management team doing their best all the time. You have to deal with lots of turnover. Many use the job as a second source of income. Others just take it on because they don’t know what else to do.
When employees aren’t fully committed to their jobs, it’s tough to get anything like their best performance. But, you can do some things to help them keep up their motivation and doing good work:
- Lead With a Carrot, Not a Stick
Work out an arrangement with each employee on an individual basis the rewards that will help them do their best (leading with a carrot). When employees have a choice over their reward, they’re much more likely to work harder towards it. Psychological studies have proven people are more likely to change their behavior when chasing a carrot, rather than avoiding a stick.
Of course, you will have times where you have to use a “stick.” Be selective and only do so sparingly. Ultimately, if the employee’s chosen carrots don’t motivate them, you’ll have to start writing them up and eventually let them go.
- Keep Up the Verbal Praise
Ever been at a workplace where the emotional environment is negative and angry? If you haven’t, could you imagine working at one like that? It’s not easy on your employees if that’s what they have to deal with from you and others in the brunt of their interactions.
Focus on what each employee does well, and give constructive (but fair) criticism when necessary to help them grow. It’s much more motivating and makes it easy for your employees to do their best.
- Work with Senior Management to Create Effective Hiring Practices
You alone shouldn’t be responsible for hiring. Taking on just any old warm body is a disastrous recipe for failure.
You should have a say and take part in the interview process because you’ll be supervising the employee. But, your senior management team should have a finely tuned process in place to make sure you hire only competent and self-motivated employees.
While we did give you tips for creating the most motivating workplace possible, ultimately you can’t control your employee’s actions. You can only make it easier for them to engage in the behaviors you want to see.
So that means you need to hire the best employees possible in the first place. And it takes experience and professional judgment to make that happen consistently.
Building an effective facilities management team and keeping it performing at a high level all year long is no easy task. But, these tips will help you keep yours on track for the best performance possible.