If organizations have to invest a lot of resources to motivate their people, there’s probably something wrong with the equation. Organizations should not have to invest to motivate their people; rather, they should hire people that are already motivated. In addition, they should ensure organizational leaders don’t do things that would demotivate them but continue down the path in adopting strategies and tactics that will keep them motivated. Motivating employees with a mere paycheck or salary raise is simply not enough in this day and age of the corporate world. Paychecks are considered to be in placement of an employee’s pre-soughed out role and responsibility in the organization and go only as far as fulfilling their basic needs.
With that said, organizational leaders must make other efforts to ensure employees work life balance is maintained and their emotional, mental and spiritual needs are met. Focusing on these needs is essential and will result in employees being more productive without increasing the number of working hours. Several multinational companies have world-class office perks, such as Google Inc., Facebook, Apple and Yahoo to name a few.
At 360training.com there are several incentives that have contributed in making our employee’s life better and keeping them happier. For instance, our Austin campus has had several initiatives, such as our company-funded quarterly off-site outings, annual boat party, ping-pong tournaments, holiday party, Cinco de Mayo celebration and our recently added Yoga classes offered free to employees on a regular basis.
“The 360Training employees who participate in the yoga classes repeatedly mention how wonderful and relaxed they feel afterward. It’s easy to see from their smiles and laughter how much they appreciate the company making the classes possible!” says Kathy Driggers, Yoga Instructor for 360training.
“Coming to work should be exciting and challenging. At 360training I feel challenged technically as there are always new technologies in the horizon that can be best suited in our eLearning environment. These technologies assist in providing solutions to our internal as well as external customers”, says Faisal Khawaja, Director of Product Engineering and winner of the 2013 Ping Pong Tournament. “360Trianing organizes many motivating activities that recharges its employees and is ready to push the company to the next level of success. Participating in the Ping Pong Tournament was a booster that brought the entire company together. Being part of that success is very comforting to the entire technology group. I am proud to be part of such a vibrant organization that is led by a very energetic and thoughtful leadership at the top.”
Also, considering one incentive may not fulfill everyone’s needs, there are several other initiatives taking place across our 360training.com global offices. For instance, in Philippines 360training.com offered professional foot and back massages at their Spa party to all its employees along with free food and a relaxing environment.
Similarly, the Pakistan office at 360training.com has its own company-funded Cricket team that plays every week. Recreational events for the employees gives them an opportunity to spend more time with their loved ones. Pakistan has also recently added a dedicated game room. This room resulted in a Carom tournament in which more than eighty percent of the employees participated and played enthusiastically. Some of these incentives are quite popular and have kept employees motivated and productive at 360training.com. There are several other instances where companies have now adapted to offering incentive programs that are unique, out of the extraordinary and those which were never offered in the past.
“One of our priorities in HR is to focus on initiating various employee engagement activities that facilitate a healthy and vibrant culture where employees are motivated and inspired to be productive,” says Sana Sardar, Human Resource Generalist and Member of Employee Engagement Committee at Pakistan campus
Regardless of the type of incentive program offered to employees, creating an environment where employees can relax and recharge themselves is essential for a healthy work life balance. These incentives do not address monetary needs of the employee but rather their emotional and spiritual needs. And when employees feel they are being cared for and looked after they are more motivated. And a motivated employee can be more productive than an employee working double those hours.