Let Them Eat cake!
If your UK manufacturing marketing team is happy, they work smarter, productivity increases, sales and profitability increase and everyone is rewarded; a piece of cake right?
Individuals are motivated by many different things. Getting to know your employees and identifying their key drivers is a must in the search for happiness.
Here are 5 simple steps that will motivate your UK Manufacturing marketing team happy...
1. Listen to each person and really get to know their personalities.
I remember a colleague telling me about one of her team members. During his final stages of training he was assumed to be motivated by money. He was set specific targets that were challenging but achievable and was rewarded when each target was met. No one could understand why when achieving his initial goal he didn't seem happy about it. It turned out that although job security was important to him he was a father of twins who actually wished to spend more time with his family. He was given flexible working hours and new, less sales orientated targets. Not only did he continue to hit targets, he was happy in his role and remained with the UK manufacturing company for many years.
2. Encourage smart working and less hard working.
As well as imparting your valuable experience to your team, provide them with the latest training and resources, so they can excel at what they do. Ensure that all the equipment and the best software for manufacturing is up to date. If they are struggling in certain areas, like digital strategy or SEO for manufacturers help them to identify where their skills are weak and put a plan in place so they can address this weakness. Skilled staff are 10 times more productive than those struggling to find their way and will get through your task list significantly quicker.
3. Create Environments for Creative Minds.
If you are comfortable and relaxed in your surroundings don't you find that you work more efficiently? With inspirational images around you, an organised working space and everything you need to hand your immediately in a better place to perform at your best. Have you thought about providing your team with 'free space' areas e.g. a thinking pod, sports room, even if it's just a small but cosy coffee area? Informal brainstorming in these spaces can be very rewarding as some of the best ideas flow when we're relaxed.
4. Set goals.
Everyone works better with something to aim towards no matter whether they're a CEO, a sales person or the caterer that provides the sandwiches! Whether it's forecast YTD sales or increasing the conversion rates of your website, targets should be challenging enough to keep you motivated and of course rewarded when achieved. Also read our article Digital Marketing for Manufacturers to Increase lead generation here.
5. Keep Track.
It's all very well putting all these steps into place, but like any good campaign you need to follow through. Continue to nurture and listen to your team, help them to see and achieve their full potential. Give additional training and goals and ask them for their feedback on all of the 4 steps above.
Don't forget that once someone saw management potential in you; take the honour seriously and remember that the purpose of your management role is to know your team and motivate them happy!
To get you started we've created this free marketing acronym translator, a handy resource for your uk manufacturing team to pin on the wall.
( Cake image courtesy of bplanet at freeDigitalPhotos.net.)
