PIG How-To's

Motivating Employees

Why is motivation important?

 

Motivating employees is vital for managers and supervisors to do correctly. Its amazing how, if you hate your job, it seems like everyone else does too. If you are very stressed out, it seems like everyone else is too. Enthusiasm is infectious. If you’re enthusiastic about your job, its much easier for others to be too. Also, if you’re doing a good job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you’ll have a much clearer perspective on how others are doing in theirs.

 

Building Competence

 

Tips for building employee Competence:

  1. Train new employees on basic skills.
  2. Explain what you expect of employees and recognize when they complete the task.
  3. Explain the total operation and how their position fits into the overall performance of the farm.
  4. Recognize people that do something extra or go out of their way to do their job the best way possible.
  5. Implement a plan for regular training and increasing of responsibilities.
  6. Provide cross-training in different jobs/tasks when suitable.
  7. Review and discuss competencies and procedures on a regular basis.
  8. Set goals for the growth of your employees and yourself.

 

Building Self-Confidence

 

Tips for building employee Self-Confidence:

  1. Recognize when a job is done properly and on time.
  2. Praise extra effort and look for times when people go out of their way.
  3. Compliment people and say good things about other employees.
  4. Focus on the positive aspects of a person’s abilities.
  5. Encourage your staff to compliment other employees.
  6. Don’t let bad habits continue, correct in a positive manner.
  7. Recognize the difference between correcting actions and correcting behaviors.
  8. Keep a positive attitude and atmosphere.
  9. Focus on solving problems and effectively achieving the overall production targets.
  10. Remember-it’s all right to be passionate and smile!
  11. Ask employees for feedback and suggested changes to the work. Respect their input.

 

Retaining Employees

 

The Goal

Build competence and self-confidence at the same time. As you are training people in new skills, help build their self-confidence by encouraging them, helping them modify their behaviors and activities, and developing a sense of teamwork. The goal is to improve and retain current employees or “Team”. It is a lot easier to work at retaining good employees than it is to recruit, hire, and train new employees.

 

For more information, please search for the following resources on PIG:

PIG References: Motivating Employees
PIG Factsheets: Keeping Employees

 

References:
Waters, K. Keeping Employees. Fact Sheet 03-01-01. Pork Information Gateway; 2006.