If you’re unable to retain employees, you could end up wasting money and resources. This makes it critical to create a motivating environment that keeps employee engagement as a top-of-mind priority. This is especially true when it comes to entry-level employees. Engaging them at the start of their careers can earn their loyalty, which will help you retain them as productive, empowered members of your team for years or even decades to come. Here are some tips and tricks to help you motivate and engage your employees.

Understand Motivation

There are two basic types of motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual. For example, an employee may have a personal connection to the mission of an organization that results in a strong desire to contribute. When employees receive satisfaction from doing the job, rather than what they receive for doing the job, they’re intrinsically motivated. When employees are motivated by rewards such as raises, bonuses or promotions, they’re extrinsically motivated.

Common sense tells us that a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation would be the most effective driver of employee engagement. However, a study published in 2014, which analyzed data from 11,000 cadets entering United States Military Academy at West Point and then followed up with them years later, proved otherwise. The study found that those with strong intrinsic motivations enjoyed more career success than cadets with both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.

In an ideal world, all employees would be strongly motivated by the internal satisfaction of a job well done. However, the West Point study reveals that when a strong motivation for internal satisfaction is combined with a strong motivation for an external reward — be it a raise or promotion — the result could be a poorer overall performance. Keep this point top of mind when it comes to the messages you’re sending your team. Are you focusing on the mission and outcome of your business, or are you focusing on monetary success?

Be Intrinsically Focused

If your goal is to move the employee engagement needle, focus on instilling a deep appreciation for intrinsic motivators among your staff. Here are three tactics you can use immediately:

1. Hire Well
   Regardless of the role or the level you’re hiring for, the attitude a potential employee walks in the door with can tell you a lot about their level of engagement. Skills can be taught, but passion is harder to instill in an employee.
2. Give Employees Autonomy
   Autonomy is the key to the kingdom when it comes to engagement. It satisfies fundamental human needs to have a both a sense of choice and a sense of competence. Studies have found that when employees have the autonomy to make important decisions, they take more initiative, are more productive, have a higher retention rate and show greater resilience. Teach your employees the skills they need, and then send them off with confidence to execute their jobs. Resist the urge to look over their shoulder, because when employees are trusted, they have a remarkable tendency to step up to the task at hand.
3. Create a Meaningful Purpose
   Creating a meaningful purpose goes beyond creating a connection with the mission. It’s important for every employee to feel a purpose as they contribute to the success of your business — especially when they work at the entry level. In order to make every employee feel integral to the mission of your business, try coming up with a short-term goal that everyone on the team is responsible for — regardless of their position or job responsibilities. This isn’t only a good team-building tactic, which increases affinity on its own, but it will also allow you to demonstrate progress toward the goal, which will give your employees confidence and deepen their engagement with your organization.

Employee engagement is driven by a commitment to successfully complete meaningful work, rather than solely focusing on monetary rewards. These tips will help you understand motivation in the workplace and successfully engage your employees. You’ll have to invest the effort, but your business will reap the rewards for years to come.

Karlyn Borysenko

My goal is to make professional life better for individuals, and drive productivity and results for organizations. I fix the "people problems" – I help individuals build better working relationships across their organizations, navigate office politics, create a great organizational culture, build and lead more productive teams, and be great managers. I'm one of the few workplace bullying experts in the country – I can help individuals who have been targeted, or organizations who think they might have a bullying problem on their hands. And if you work in sales or fundraising, I can teach you how to "read" your prospects to increase your close rate and generate more revenue. I'm an MBA, a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (ABD), and a certified DiSC Trainer. I believe passionately that an organization's most valuable resource is its people, and that leaders have a responsibility to put structures, processes, and systems in place that will support employee success, development, job satisfaction, and organizational culture.

more from Karlyn