How do you maintain motivation in the workplace during a recession? It’s one thing to motivate when things are going smoothly, quite another when times are tough. Our workshop “Re-thinking motivation when times are tough” explores some ways forward. Motivation is a complex and often personal topic; we are all motivated by different things. That said there can be common factors during tough times that can affect our motivation in the workplace.
Difficult situations can arise for a variety of reasons:
- Downturn in the economy
- New technology
- Changing market
- Re-organisations
- Poor team performance
- Workload pressures
- Fear of losing your job
- Sense of loss when others around you lose their job
Motivation in the Workplace: Choosing to Maintain a Positive Attitude
Improving motivation in the workplace starts with each of us. There are many circumstances that we cannot readily change, but perhaps the first thing to remember is: how we think and act is up to us. For our own benefit, and for those who work with us, choose to maintain as positive an attitude as possible, even in challenging situations. It is a truism, but nevertheless vital to recognise that if you can’t motivate yourself, then there is little prospect of you being able to motivate those you work with.
Optimism tempered with realism: Being in Tune with your Colleagues
In difficult situations it can feel like there are few options and few choices other than to put up with lower levels of motivation and higher levels of frustration. This is especially the case when there are job threats or people have lost their jobs. Such realities should be a matter of last resort. Whether jobs have been lost or there is a threat to people jobs, rebuilding confidence needs to be done carefully and sensitively.
Don’t pretend that everything is alright or even that things will be different now, when that is not what people think or feel. You need to be in touch with how people are feeling and manage their reality, taking people from where they are. A manager trying to cajole and motivate with a pep talk to “step-up to the plate” or “rise to the challenge”, when people actually feel a bit battered or bruised, will not work. Especially if the manager hasn’t first gained the respect of their colleagues by listening and gaining an understanding of what people feel and why they feel it.
7 Motivation in the workplace Strategies
Whilst things are difficult there are possibilities. In this session we will introduce 7 strategies to motivate in tough times. They take in to account where people are and provide a range of different ways forward out of difficult circumstances. They are strategies that help you and your colleagues to re-focus.
Re-thinking motivation when times are tough
In this session we will help you to be able to:
- Find the energy and focus to motivate your self
- Adopt effective approaches to coping with difficult change
- Re-build confidence sensitively
- Apply 7 motivation strategies for tough times
- Dealing with under performance and its effect of motivation