If motivation and engagement seem to be a little less than stellar with your staff members, your office may have the post-holiday blues.
Combat the post-holiday blues by getting your staff back on board with your company’s vision and goals. Your staff needs to believe in what your company is trying to achieve. Get them to understand why your company started and where it plans on going in the future.
Have a lunch meeting and don’t just talk about business. Get to know them and let them get to know you. Make your staff know that you are just as interested in them as a person as you are a staff member. Ideas will flow better from people who feel comfortable around you.
Now that your staff is relaxed and understands your vision, help them feel proud to be a part of it by allowing them to be part of the common goal. People want to be helpful and allowing your staff to help with your company goals is a great way to engage and motivate them.
Ask for their ideas and how you can help them achieve it. Don’t just pay lip service, really listen to what they have to say and collaborate together. Staff members that feel they are free to have ideas will be more motivated than if they felt they were shut down whenever they brought a new idea to the table.
Lead your team but remember to lead quietly. Everyone knows you are the boss, but when you make your staff feel like uneducated spectators, you will most likely get just that, spectators without motivation.
Remind your staff that a setback is not a failure. Talk about what happened and what everyone can do to make sure it does not happen again. If the mistake was yours then own up to it. You will get more response with honesty than blame.
The more engaged and motivated your staff is, the less likely the post-holiday blues will stick around.
