Five Initiatives to Inspire Your Team at Work as a Leader

By Charlotte Boffey, UK Head of Services for Employment Hero

Inspired and engaged employees are often the people who perform best. By fostering a work environment that motivates a team to perform at the top of their game, push boundaries, and challenge the status quo, business leaders can have a real impact on the quality of work their company produces. 

To improve employee motivation and inspire performance, your leadership team should set the standard. They need to be the driving force behind inspiring employees and helping them grow, whilst continually championing the company’s mission and values.

With these goals in mind, here is our advice on how to create a workplace environment that inspires and motivates your team to do their best work.

1. Encourage personal and professional growth

Career development and progression opportunities give your employees personal incentives that will benefit their overall contribution to the company. By encouraging personal growth through regular learning opportunities, you can help drive employee motivation, reduce turnover, and increase productivity rates.

2. Create a culture of reward and recognition

The best way to foster collaboration and honest feedback between employees is to encourage team members to give recognition and praise regularly. This could be through thank you notes, a team notice board, dedicated portions of team meetings or mentions on internal communication channels. By encouraging employees to recognise team members, rewarding your team for going above and beyond in their roles, and acknowledging achievements, birthdays, and work milestones, you can demonstrate to your employees that you are dedicated to their personal development. 

3. Establish company traditions

Whether it’s a bell in the office for hitting targets, a winning team lunch, a charity fun run or sharing some cake to celebrate a birthday, such traditions and rituals give your team something to look forward to and keep them feeling motivated throughout the year.

4. Allow for flexible working 

Our Remote Working Report found that 55% of remote workers would look elsewhere if they no longer had the option to work remotely. The advantages of flexible working schedules are obvious, so if your work style permits, we highly recommend giving your employees the opportunity to work remotely to help them achieve a sense of work/life balance.

5. Create a physical environment that inspires

A clean, bright, organised office goes a long way. Employees will appreciate efforts to make your physical workspace as comfortable as possible, even if that’s just a few small additions like indoor plants, bean bags, or computer monitors and keyboard stands. If your team is working remotely, you can offer a budget allowance for your employees to decorate their home offices so that they always have a comfortable working environment. 

Ensuring that your workforce feels motivated and inspired relies heavily on establishing a company culture that puts the wellbeing of employees and company values at heart. Whether it’s reward and recognition for your team, creating unique company traditions, or encouraging learning and development throughout the year, implementing these ideas can help your team feel that little more inspired.