We are now almost one month into a new financial year in Australia, halfway through a calendar year or a financial year to many US or European headquartered companies. The winter has truly set in in the southern states making some days particularly dark and cold. How can we keep our teams motivated to start the year strong and keep momentum going for others?

Goal setting

Any Google search on goal setting will return a range of statistics which all, regardless of source, demonstrate one thing. People who set goals are more productive or successful than those who don’t. Encourage your team to set their own goals, aligned to both the team or company and personal objectives. Make these realistic yet challenging. Determine a check in point/points and then offer support, praise, and recognition as progress towards the goal is reached.

Celebrate milestones.

Recognise that team members are all different and work milestones will be different for a recent hire to a tenured Head of Sales. But celebrate the small wins for each person’s journey. And don’t forget the personal in terms of birthdays, anniversaries, promotions.    

Give meaningful feedback.

“Great meeting” is nice to hear but “That was a great meeting. The way you engaged with the client and set a follow up action really gained their buy in” is concrete affirmation of a behavior which your team member will remember.

Use feedback to enforce positive actions and coach around areas of improvement. The “praise sandwich” technique still works.

Empower problem solving and learning.

Winter is a great time to learn a new skill or take up a new hobby as it’s cold/colder outside. Encourage your team to set an hour or two aside in their weekly schedule for work aligned learning. Recognise that if the outcome is achieved the pathway can be different and create a safe space for team members to find solutions to their challenges. Support failure as a learning opportunity. Be receptive to ideas, listen to them and allow people to try new things.

Reward

Financial, development opportunities, recognition amongst peers, formalised learning, whatever it may be. Understand your audience and, if possible, make reward something that will motivate the person. I once worked for a company who ‘rewarded’ me by changing my Nokia handset to a Blackberry as a “managers only” tool which wasn’t the best incentive. No disrespect to either handset.  

Interested in knowing more? I highly recommend the following resources for further reading:

• Inspire Greatness – Matt Tenney
• Drive – Matt Pink
• Chief Inspiration Officer – Val Ries

Maidlin Mistry
Divisional Manager

Maidlin has worked in the recruitment industry for over 20 years with both boutique firms and listed multi-nationals. She has recently returned home to Melbourne after spending 4 years in Singapore where she partnered with global investment banks, hedge funds and growing technology firms focusing on HR and strategy roles.