In the insurance industry, there is a common thread of principals having difficulty motivating their employees to continue to work hard and work toward the goals an agency principal has established. Motivation is not always gained from monetary means. Here are some ways to increase motivation among employees without giving raises:

1. Keep your employees informed
Agency principals often have a clearer view into the big picture for the agency. Managers often view things as common knowledge, but the fact is that all of your employees may not have a clear picture. Whether it be related to marketing plans, or what the focus is going to be for next year, or the challenges that are coming down the road, by keeping your employees informed, it helps strengthen the feeling that your staff are an important part of your organization. Once your employees understand the reasons behind the decisions that are being made, their concerns should be alleviated and they should be able to refocus on helping your agency reach its goals.

2. Recognition
Whether your staff member has finished a project ahead of schedule, sold a key commercial account, or talked down an angry client, you should want to award them. If you are not the agency owner, you may have trouble giving days off or bonuses. But it turns out that one of the most effective ways to reward your employees is to recognize them for their hard work and accomplishments.

Remember to recognize your staff for something that truly matters. Compliments and rewards for your staff can lose their meaning if they are given out to all employees for simply doing a good job. Only reward those employees who have truly gone above and beyond what is expected of them.

Choose how you recognize your employees carefully. While recognizing an individual in front of the whole office and a loud round of applause may work very well for certain individuals, others may feel embarrassed or awkward, in which case a 1-on-1 meeting would probably be a better choice. As a manager and leader in your company, you should be able to recognize which employees would like open recognition and which ones would not.

3. Responsibility
Not many employees want to take on one specific task over and over again. Granting your staff new responsibilities and allowing them to use their imagination, ingenuity, and creativity will increase their overall contributions to the agency. By allowing your staff to take on new roles and establish or refine processes and procedures, this will only increase buy-in for a specific program. Your employees will feel like they are contributing more to the overall organization goals, and have a stronger impact on day to day operations.

How are you keeping your agency’s employees motivated? Discuss your methods in the comments!