Despite company cutbacks and strained budgets, money isn’t the only reason why employees are motivated to stay in their current job. A motivational speaker shows corporate leaders that employees need a good reason to stay.

If companies don’t offer positive incentives, employees might walk out the door.  Where does that leave the company’s leadership structure? Companies won’t thrive and become successful if they don’t have motivated, happy employees on their team.

Teamwork From the Top Down
A teamwork attitude, from upper management to entry-level, is the key to a strong company foundation. These are common reasons why employees remain loyal to their employer:

•    A sense of camaraderie and friendship amongst fellow employees

•    Feeling appreciated and recognized for a job well done

•    An open door policy with supervisors and management – feel comfortable sharing and talking to bosses about work-related problems

•    Have the necessary training and tools to do their job correctly and efficiently

•    A safe and comfortable job environment

Incentives give people a reason to stay motivated. Companies may not have the budget to monetarily compensate their employees, but that doesn’t excuse them from not rewarding their workforce either. A simple thank you or compliment can go a long way.

Create a teamwork-driven environment. An” us versus we approach” is a quick way to decrease office morale. For supervisors, be approachable and get down in the trenches. Elitist attitudes and actions won’t win you favor with staff.

If companies aren’t already using these motivators, it’s time to get on board:

•    Ask for employees input and set attainable, realistic goals

•    Don’t pass harsh criticism when errors are made. Use mistakes as a learning opportunity and remember that employees are human.

•    Add fun and variety to employees who perform mundane tasks and jobs

•    Provide encouragement and lead by example

•    Appreciate and reward employees who go the extra mile to get the job done

Empowerment Leads to Success
Companies need to set up their workforce for success and not failure. Despite limited budgets, it’s crucial to train staff and give them a visible career path.  Companies can’t blame employees when their goals fall short; management needs to take responsibility and provide the necessary tools and resources to help employees.

What do companies need to offer employees to help them succeed? A sense of empowerment. Without empowerment, the workforce ends up stuck and stagnant and company goals aren’t reached.  A sense of responsibility and ownership are musts in a teamwork structure.  Companies pile on more work and their employees feel overworked and underappreciated, Yes, people want job empowerment but they don’t want to feel taken advantage of either.

High stress leads to job burnout, and job burnout leads to unhappy employees and employees who quit. Companies need to make the necessary adjustments. Look at job descriptions – ensure that responsibilities match the actual job.  Sometimes “extra duties as assigned” can’t be helped, but overworked and stressed employees have their breaking points and will cost companies down the road.

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In today’s uncertain economy many businesses and organizations are facing change as they have never known.  Change is always intimidating, but to some, it can cause discouragement, disinterest, depression and even complete apathy.  For an organization facing these problems among their employees, a simple remedy can often be found through a motivational speaker who can breathe that essential spark of life back into employees, managers and in fact, the total business.

And now comes the question.  Do you search out a speaker who can motivate your employees or a speaker who can inspire them, and is there a difference?  Many would agree that the two are one and the same, but still others remain steadfast in their beliefs that there is a marked difference in the two.

Let’s start first with definitions.  The dictionary defines to motivate as, “to provide with a motive or motives; incite; impel” and to inspire as, “to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence.”

So do we want a leadership speaker to motivate or inspire? A simple analogy may help us understand the difference.  If you have an old clunker that you’ve ignored, chances are it will often fail to start when you want to go somewhere.  Sure, you can get it to go by pushing it down the driveway, but the next time you go to start it, you will likely need to give it that same push.  On the other hand, if you had kept it well maintained, it would more than likely start up right away for you every time.

The same is very similar when motivating or inspiring people.  If they have been motivated, they will be eager to move forward….for a while.  But eventually the momentum will slow and you will need to “push” them to get them going again, and if you stop pushing chances are they will stop altogether.

A person who has been inspired, on the other hand, is like the old clunker that has been well maintained.  An inspired person sees the vision and understands the expectations and as a result has a desire to keep going and working until the desired goals have been reached.  Rather than needing that little push every so often, they are self-propelled to complete the task.

Another example might be the person who attends a sales promotion meeting, gets all fired up at the time, buys the kit and materials, and then a few days later loses interest in the whole idea.  This person was obviously motivated but definitely not inspired!

It would appear then, that the fundamental difference between motivating someone and inspiring them is found in the long term effect.  Motivation seems to be a fleeting thing where inspiration is more long lasting.  True inspiration can actually last a lifetime.   Most of us can remember way back in our lives a time when a teacher, relative or parent so inspired us that it changed our way of doing things forever.  True inspiration then, provides a lasting motivation that comes from within, bringing with it the determination to wake up every day and take action towards our goals.

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