- In general, how motivated do you feel at work?
- How stimulating do you find day-to-day tasks?
- How inspired do you feel by your work goals?
- How well do you think you’re growing in your role?
- How happy do you feel coming to work?
Stop Trying to Motivate Your Employees | Kerry Goyette | TEDxCosmoPark
Why is it important to provide motivation questions for employees?
It’s crucial to inquire about an employee’s motivation since this is what drives them to be successful and productive in their jobs. Employees who are enthusiastic and motivated to work at the company and in their position frequently produce high-quality work, remain with the company for a long time, and offer valuable suggestions that improve the performance of the company.
You can better understand how to make your team members feel supported, encouraged, and engaged so they’ll continue to feel motivated to contribute valuable work by learning what factors affect their workplace motivations. Additionally, by using these questions, staff members and managers can develop positive communication patterns that help employees feel more at ease and heard at work.
Employees’ opinions on what you’re doing right and how you can better manage and motivate them as their supervisor can be obtained by sending out a survey or by holding meetings where you directly ask them about their motivation.
Sample motivation questions to ask employees
Consider factors in their job or the company that may affect their motivation to complete quality assignments when creating your list of motivational questions to ask employees. These may include things like the company culture, specific job descriptions, or direction from you or other potential supervisors. Sample motivation questions to consider asking your employees include:
1. Are there any outside factors that impact your motivation or ability to complete your work by given deadlines?
By asking this question, you can gain a better understanding of the outside forces—such as relationships with family and friends, health issues, or other difficulties—that may prevent workers from performing their jobs effectively. This is an excellent opportunity for you to show that you are prepared to address any external problems they encounter that have an impact on their performance. With the help of this inquiry, you can design flexible schedules or other changes that will better accommodate their personal lives.
You might suggest letting an employee work from home after picking up their child or allowing them to leave work early if they arrive at work earlier that day if they are having trouble finding after-school care for their kids and believe this is interfering with their ability to concentrate on tasks. Offering solutions to these issues demonstrates your concern for their work-life balance and aids them in concentrating on tasks without becoming distracted by external challenges.
2. What makes you excited to work at this company and complete your tasks?
Understanding the reasons why employees enjoy working for your company will help you identify what you’re doing well and what you should keep doing. Try to give them more similar work tasks if there are some that they excel at. When your staff is engaged in tasks they enjoy, they frequently put forth more effort and produce work that is impressive. Additionally, they’ll work more efficiently if they know you’ll keep giving them enjoyable tasks to complete if they consistently perform well.
3. What improvements would you make about this company or your role?
Your staff can offer insightful feedback on your management style and express how happy they are with their jobs and the company by answering this question. Utilize their response to help you determine what you did well to help them feel at ease in their role and potential improvements to make their work environment more enjoyable.
It’s best to receive anonymous feedback for this response so that staff members can offer open and constructive criticisms without fear of repercussions. You should use their suggestions to strengthen your management style and show that you care about your employees’ success. Fix the issues they raise to demonstrate that you pay attention to and appreciate their feedback.
4. Which company values do you believe align well with your own values?
If they perceive their work as having a purpose and that the company’s values are compatible with their own, most employees are more motivated to complete their tasks. As a manager, identify the values that your team members most identify with and uphold them consistently. Encourage your team to do the same. Employee retention may increase if they see you demonstrating the values they care about on a regular basis.
5. Do any of your responsibilities feel too difficult or time-consuming to complete?
If you notice that some of your employees’ projects are being submitted after their due dates, it is especially crucial that you ask this question. Instead of imposing disciplinary measures, it’s crucial to find out where employees are having the most difficulty completing their assignments. This enables you to give staff members the support they need to perform better, learn how to handle challenging projects, and find more effective ways to complete tasks.
6. Do you completely understand your role and whats expected of you?
Some employees might produce work that is of lower quality because they are not fully aware of their responsibilities and what is expected of them in their position. This is why it’s so critical for managers and employees to have open lines of communication. If staff members feel more at ease around you, they’ll feel more comfortable asking you routine inquiries about their position or specific assignments. Employees may be more confident when completing tasks after understanding their role and responsibilities, which enables them to work more productively.
7. What inspires you to be successful in your role every day?
By asking your employees this question, you can better understand what motivates them to carry out their daily tasks. They might demonstrate their enthusiasm for working on specific projects, collaborating with team members, or submitting work that they believe will benefit others. Find out what motivates your employees to do well in their jobs, and use that as a constant source of inspiration to keep them performing well for your team.
For instance, if an employee says that their manager’s positive feedback motivates them to succeed, continue to regularly offer them encouragement and input to make them feel more valued in their position.
8. What do you enjoy the most about our company culture?
By posing inquiries like these, you demonstrate to your staff that you care about their satisfaction at work and that you want to keep improving the environment. Employee engagement can be increased by upholding a strong company culture, which frequently leads to an increase in collaboration and communication at work.
Employees who are having fun at work are more likely to be motivated to come to work every day and participate in the holiday parties, group projects, company retreats, or any other enjoyable activities you have planned for them.
9. Do you feel comfortable speaking your mind at this company?
If workers feel secure and at ease sharing their ideas, they are frequently more motivated to perform their duties. It’s critical to promote an environment where staff members respect, acknowledge, and support one another’s ideas.
If you do this in meetings or brainstorming sessions, you’ll usually come up with more original and worthwhile suggestions that can significantly boost the performance of the business. Give each of your employees a chance to speak during each meeting, and ask others to offer supportive and constructive criticism of everyone’s ideas and opinions.
10. What are your career goals? Do you believe were helping you achieve those goals?
When working toward a specific objective, many employees feel more motivated in their jobs. Giving them objectives and benchmarks to strive for results in them working more assiduously to achieve them. If you are aware of the individual career objectives of your team, setting milestones for them will be simpler. This enables you to give advice and tactics so they can learn how to reach them.
This question informs them that you provide plenty of opportunities for them to advance, which is important because many employees decide to stay or pursue a role at another company that offers those opportunities. Employees who are consistently promoted into higher-level positions are more likely to stay with your business for a longer period of time, be able to handle more challenging tasks, and make more important decisions.
11. Do you feel I support you as a manager?
One objective you should have for these inquiries with staff members is to improve teamwork and communication. This inquiry can help you determine how well you get along with your staff members and how you can help them achieve their goals and give better work performance. Make sure you take this feedback positively and constructively, and do something to encourage your team members to feel more appreciated and motivated.
12. What career advice can I give you?
With this query, you demonstrate to your staff that you are a mentor and that you want them to succeed in their career. Learning your perspective and insight will be helpful to them in the future as they work to achieve similar accomplishments to yours because many team members who want to continue working in their field may eventually aim to advance in a higher role similar to yours.
FAQ
What are some motivation questions?
- What are my reasons for wanting to achieve my goal? .
- What actions must I take to advance toward my objective?
- What would happen if I wasn’t driven to accomplish my goal?
- What stops or reduces my motivation?
How do you ask what motivates employees?
- Do external factors affect your drive or capacity to finish your work by the deadlines that have been set?
- What motivates you to carry out your duties and work at this company?
- What changes would you make to this business or your position?
What are the top 5 motivators for employees?
- Provide Meaningful and Challenging Work. …
- Improve Employees’ Lives. …
- Recognition. …
- Compensation & Benefits. …
- Culture.
What are the 3 things that motivate you as an employee?
- Feeling a sense of meaning and purpose in their work.
- Working in a positive company culture. …
- Being recognised for their hard work. …
- Opportunities for learning and development in the workplace. …
- A clear path of career progression.
