When you run a business, you already have a lot on your plate. As such, challenges related to your staff shouldn’t be one more thing that you have to worry about. Whether you realize it or not, your engineers are the most crucial assets in your organization. The success of your organization rests on the success and productivity of your engineers; keeping them motivated and happy is your single most important duty.
Though essential, workplace engagement and motivation is not something that just occurs by itself. For example, it might appear that offering hefty salaries to your staff will certainly do the job of keeping them motivated and happy, but this isn’t always the case. For your engineers to remain motivated, you must strive to apply various methods externally and internally to ensure that they are content and engaged.
Sadly, some organizations fail to realize the value of motivated employees. If you are a team leader or boss that’s failing, for whatever reason, to motivate his or her employees, you and your company may be in a riskier position than you realized. Not to worry though. To help you out, here are 5 tips on how to keep your engineers motivated in 2020:
Allow your employees to forge relationships that go beyond colleagues
When your engineers are familiar with each other, it creates the perfect environment for promoting the exchange of ideas. It also makes it easier for them to help each other with weaknesses while working together to make use of each others’ strengths. If your engineers have a rapport with one another, they will work easily together in teams because there is already an established camaraderie there.
To build strong rapport; encourage bonding sessions at work that will allow them to interact freely with one another. Something as simple as adding a ping pong table in the break room, or hosting employee’s mixers once every few months can do a great job of bonding your staff. Plus nothing loosens up employees faster or more effectively than having a ball on the company’s dime.
Don’t be afraid to give rewards for a well-done job
As a team leader or the boss, you have the power and flexibility to empower your engineers and make them feel as though they matter and are part of the bigger picture- simply because they actually are. You must go out of your way to make your employees feel valued and seen because they have such a huge impact on how your business develops and grows.
Make your employees understand that their contributions matter and if you can, go the extra mile of asking how they would like to be rewarded. That upcoming conference in the neighboring town might sound like a great reward to you, but perhaps your engineers would prefer something more effective such as a more flexible schedule or the newest laptop for their designs and work.
By simply asking, your employees will feel cared for that you’ve gone to extra lengths to know what they would prefer to be rewarded with in exchange for a job well done. Oh, and you’ll see that if they have something to look forward to, they are more likely to step up their game too.
Offer them flexibility
Every engineer has a different flow and work rhythm. Some engineers work better during early morning hours while others prefer to work through the wee hours of the night. Other than the mandatory meeting to check-in, consider allowing your engineers to work whenever they are most effective or at their best.
As long as you establish clear rules and boundaries and communication lines, your engineers should be able to remain productive and meet their deadlines. Giving your employees this flexibility will demonstrate to your engineers that you have faith in them and their capabilities, which is bound to reap impressive results.
Give them opportunities to learn
Engineers, even the best of them, must always be on the lookout for ways to advance their skills. The best engineers will always be interested in learning more and advancing their skill sets. As such, one of the most straightforward ways to keep engineers motivated in 2020 is to supply them with learning opportunities regularly.
Whether this means paying for a course or attending a noteworthy conference, providing them with learning opportunities shows that you care for your engineers’ personal as well as professional wellbeing and success.
Talk to your engineers
A simple ‘’how was your weekend Dave?’’ can have a considerable impact on your team. But it’s not enough to just ask for the sake of it; you must actually care enough to listen. Talking to your engineers and engaging with them is an excellent way to break down walls and encourage openness and transparency.
For example, once every quarter, take your engineers out for lunch or drinks. After a couple of rounds, they should feel relaxed enough to share details on projects or feedback that they would otherwise be too afraid to share.
Creating an environment that allows your engineers to approach you freely whenever they need assistance or share their concerns far outweighs any monetary or physical gift that you can give your engineers. This is also a great way to keep tabs on the inner workings of your operations.
Final Thoughts
If you are calling the shots in your firm or business, then you already know how essential it is that you keep your workforce engaged and happy. Justifiably, you may not have as much time to devote to making sure that your engineers are happy. However, employee happiness and motivation is nothing to scoff at.
With the average cost of replacing an engineer being as exorbitant as it is, it is critical for team leaders and bosses to ensure that their workers are engaged for them to remain long term employees. Motivated engineers are efficient engineers- and you need as many as those that you can find if you want to stay ahead of the game in today’s hypercompetitive market.