Motivating employees - AQAAttracting, retaining employees and productivity

Motivation refers to how driven and happy an employee is in their role. If an employee is motivated, they are more likely to do a good job and work hard. Motivation is very important for attracting employees, retaining employees and general levels of productivity in a business.

Attracting employees

Attracting employees is extremely important for a business. If a potential employee can see that a workplace has high levels of motivation, they are more likely to want to be employed there. Motivated staff are also more likely to recommend their workplace to potential applicants.

Retaining employees

Retention refers to keeping employees working for a business. Retention is very important for a number of reasons:

• employees who have worked for a business for a long time require less monitoring and training than those who are new to the business
• when employees stay working for a business, their skills and experience are kept within the business
• retaining existing employees avoids wasting time and money hiring new employees to replace the ones who have left

Employees are likely to feel valued by a business that invests in their training and development. This means they are much more likely to stay working for that business.

Productivity

Productivity relates to how much work is completed by employees. It is usually measured in the number of products produced or the amount of work completed in a certain period of time.

A business will aim to have the highest possible level of productivity. This is because having a high level of productivity leads to more revenue and potentially more profit. More motivated employees are likely to increase a business’ productivity levels.