I could give you a fabulous exercise to motivate your people but until you understand the underlying reasons why people are not motivated, nothing will change.
FACT: Left unattended, unmotivated employees can dramatically impact the salon culture and cause low morale.
When we to understand the reasons WHY people are not motivated we can provide the solutions that are most effective. Understanding these reasons can empower leaders to make change and inspire their teams.
Listed below are some of the most common factors.
Boss hovering
People want to feel capable and trusted in their roles. A leader who constantly is telling them what to do and how to do it causes people to lose interest and disengaged causing lack of motivation. Employees never get the chance to be appreciated if they don’t have the opportunity to impress.
It can be hard to not micromanage but it is essential to empower our teams with the knowledge and resources they need and allow them the space and creativity to flourish.
It doesn’t make a difference, nothing changes
Money may not be the biggest motivator. Turns out that doing something that makes a difference is. Everyone wants to be part of something bigger that has an impact in the world. People want to be part of change but if their enthusiasm, ideas and efforts are not being heard or they are constantly being put off they lose interest and stop trying. They lose hope. Without hope, they have no faith and without faith, they lose drive.
Connect your people with the vision of your salon regularly and have open discussions of how they feel they already contribute or ideas they have as to how they can.
Is the salon in trouble?
If your team fears the salon is in jeopardy they will spend their efforts looking for a new job rather then putting in the time to build their career. It is essential that leaders communicate the challenges the business is having rather than leaving employees to make up their own minds and start rumors. Keeping things behind closed doors creates a lack of trust that something is being done. Communicating the salon challenges may not keep your people from leaving but it will secure trust and morale.
Communicate the necessary information to help build trust that something is happening, a sense that “the salon has this”.
They don’t trust or respect the leader
They don’t have to like you but they do have to feel confident that the leader is competent in their role. They want to know the leader is doing their job, so they have a job, and a place to work. This uncertainty can keep your team from trying. People will only work as hard as you do. When they trust the leader’s focus in the vision, respect their decisions and see they are working to move the business forward they feel secure and are able to be focus on their own role. This motivates people to excel.
Have a job description for your role as leader that describes the steps you take in building the company. Share it with your team so they know you are doing your job and they can relax and let you do it.
Leaders let things slide
Yes, people want to be held accountable and want others to be as well. If poor performance does not get dealt with it is a sign that the salon doesn’t care. Without confidence that there is standard of performance that everyone is held accountable to, people lose drive. Their uncertainty diminishes the will to succeed. Leaders who don’t deal with poor performance lower the standards and people stop trying.
Having measurement tools and holding your team accountable shows an investment into helping them be their best.
Workplace Drama
It doesn’t matter how much money employees can make in your salon if there are situations that cause stress and tension. This under estimated factor causes more people to leave the salon than anything else. Letting unacceptable behavior happen in the salon destroys healthy working relationships. It doesn’t mean we have to like the people we work with but that we have an understanding of the boundaries and principles that foster respect.
Provide a process of how the salon handles employee challenges and the steps it takes to manage them.
By knowing why people may not be motivated you can take steps to create the environment that fosters it. Not that it doesn’t take a bit of work at times, but if the foundation is solid, motivation will be more easily achieved and lack of it won’t destroy the morale of your salon.
