Organizational Psychology - 2 Key Strategies All Organizations Should Use To Enhance Motivation
About the Author
Ben Foodman is a licensed psychotherapist & performance specialist. He owns his private practice located in Charlotte North Carolina where he specializes in working with athletes to help them overcome mental blocks (the yips), PTSD, ADD / ADHD and achieve flow states through the techniques of Brainspotting & Neurofeedback. If you are interested in services, use the link here! Enjoy the article below!
Two Organizational Psychology Strategies to Improve Employee Motivation
When athletes are training for competitions, this can be a long process. Throughout their training it can be easy to lose motivation and not be as engaged in training and recovery methods. Employee motivation at companies is not different, and is just as essential in order for any company and or team that wants to succeed. Motivated employees are more productive, engaged, and are less likely to leave the company. There are many different factors that can influence employee motivation, but for this Training Report, I wanted to quickly highlight two key strategies that business leaders should always employ.
Set Clear & Achievable Goals
When athletes decide what competitions they have their vision set for, they have to establish goals in order to accomplish these missions. However, these goals need to act as detailed road maps that provide the structure they need to accomplish championship level performances. This includes setting outcome, performance & detailed process goals. I have explored this in previous Training Report issues.
Employees at corporations are no different, and need to know what is expected of them. They need to believe that they can achieve their goals, and this can usually only happen when their goals are clear and regularly communicated with management. When I have worked with corporate athletes at the management level, there is oftentimes a lack of understanding about the importance of this issue. But the more that management can regularly set clear goals, and spend time consistently communicating with employees about their goals, the more this will pay off in the long run.
Provide Regular Feedback
When athletes are training for competitions, they have clear and honest conversations about the progress they are making towards accomplishing their goals with their coaches. If the feedback is honest, but not negatively framed, and made to be collaborative, athletes will usually take more ownership of their training. As you can probably already guess, employees share the same traits and need to know how they are doing by regularly receiving feedback on their performance. When employees receive regular feedback, they are more likely to be motivated to improve their performance. There are several strategies that upper level management can implement in order to create positive feedback moments:
Providing opportunities for growth and development: Employees want to feel like they are growing and developing in their careers. Companies can provide opportunities for growth and development by offering training, development programs, and promotions, which can be part of the goal setting process. Progress towards these goals can be reviewed through feedback sessions.
Creating a positive work environment: Employees want to work in a positive environment where they feel valued and respected. Companies can create a positive work environment by providing a safe and healthy work environment, offering flexible work arrangements, and celebrating employee successes. Corporate leaders can also cultivate an environment that feels like a team approach, where the corporate leaders don’t always assume hierarchical positions, but regularly collaborate with team members.
Rewarding and recognizing employees: Employees want to be recognized for their hard work and accomplishments. Companies can reward and recognize employees by providing monetary rewards, non-monetary rewards, and public recognition. These types of interactions can be reviewed through regimented feedback sessions.
Potential Benefits Of Goal Setting & Feedback
By implementing these two organizational psychology strategies, companies can improve employee motivation and create a more productive and successful workplace. Some of the potential benefits that corporate athletes at the management can expect are as follows:
Work can become more meaningful: Employees are more motivated when they feel like their work is meaningful and makes a difference. Companies can make work more meaningful by giving employees opportunities to work on projects that they are passionate about and by providing them with opportunities to make a positive impact on the world.
Employees will embrace their autonomy: Employees are more motivated when they feel like they have control over their work. Companies can encourage employee autonomy by giving employees the freedom to make decisions about their work and by providing them with the resources they need to be successful.
An improved sense of community: Employees are more motivated when they feel like they are part of a team. Companies can create a sense of community by fostering positive relationships between employees, by celebrating employee successes, and by providing opportunities for social interaction.
Note To Reader:
If you are an athlete reading this segment of the TRAINING REPORT, hopefully this content was helpful! I put the Training Report together because I felt like many of the discussions on issues such as the Yips/mental blocks, strength training & other subject matter on athlete performance concepts were really missing the mark on these ideas (e.g. how trauma is the direct cause of the Yips). If you are interested in learning more, make sure to subscribe below for when I put out new content on issues related to sport psychology & athlete performance! Also, if you are looking to work with a mental performance specialist, you are in the right place! USE THIS LINK to reach out to me to see if my services are the right fit for your goals!
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