Your employees are one of the most effective marketing tools you have. If they make the guest experience great, then the guest is likely to return to the business.

Happy employees = happy guests = more guest visits = more sales

Every applicant has the potential to become a productive member of the crew, but they need you to provide an environment that motivates them.

• All motivation begins with a desire – a desire for recognition, a desire for a challenge, a desire for respect, for more fun or more money.

• Different people are motivated by different incentives.

Money is an obvious incentive to any employee, yet it is no secret that crew work is not high paying.

Other incentives to offer besides pay, should include:

• The opportunity to join a fun and successful team.

• To fit in with a group.

• To feel accepted.

• To show improvement and have someone notice.

• To have a place where they are needed and appreciated.

Motivated employees often have a great deal of “spirit.”

• Managers have to set a good example and show employees the meaning of the word “spirit.”

• That means exuding enthusiasm as you come into the room; friendly hellos for everyone; giving recognition for a job well done; and setting the pace with the enthusiasm of a coach.

• The spirit of the teamwork should be fun despite the fast pace. Having fun on the job can be infectious. If you have fun on the job, your crew will have fun too.

A well-motivated crew will help to initiate a great deal of self-motivation. They may become more involved, suggesting great marketing ideas, competing with one another in a friendly way for the highest standards, competing even with themselves to do better tomorrow.

EMPLOYEE INCENTIVE/MOTIVATION IDEAS

Encourage team building by scheduling employee group activities off site. This can be a great way to kick-off or end a marketing or incentive program.

When arranging friendly competition:

• Group competitions work better than individual competitions.

• Divide employees into even teams.

• Make sure you set up the competition so that the same person doesn’t win all the time. That can be de-motivating.

• Be sure competitions give everyone an equal chance to win. Be sure part-timers and full-timers are competing on even ground.

• Find ways to include employees who may not have opportunities to interact with guests.

• Have an employee of the month program.

• Determine which employees will be judged and make an event out of the announcement of each new employee of the month.

• Have an award attached to this honor (i.e. movie tickets, $25 cash etc.) and give them special privileges (i.e. write your own schedule, special parking, special pin on uniform).

• Have hourly or daily competitions for the hour. For example: Spontaneously announce that between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. whomever sells the most of a certain item wins $10.00 or an extra hour of pay.

Reward employees who contribute to a great Mystery Shopper score. Offer a prize to all the employees who were on the clock during the Mystery Shopper visit, or recognize any employees who were mentioned in the Mystery Shopper’s report.

Have a “Fun Friday” (or “Monday Madness” or any other day of the week). Initiate contests all day long. Decorate the business. Do cheers.

If an employee receives a guest compliment, reward that employee with cash, or a free lunch etc. Tell other employees about the compliment (praise publicly.) Post the letter or comment on the Employee Bulletin Board for everyone to see.

Offer incentives to employees that bring in a new corporate account.

About the Author

Jonathan advises business owners with proven systems that accelerate sales, build concrete everlasting companies and generate scalable revenue and wealth for their employees and especially the owners.

He has had a long successful career as a business owner, entrepreneur, coach and consultant. He has owned his own restaurants and catering company, successfully invested in several start-ups and other businesses.

He currently owns two national franchises and Success Systems which offers B2B services for Marketing Automation and Business Success Systems. Find out more: SuccessSystemHub.com