Employees are important cogs in a business’ journey to success. Without these people, it would
be extremely difficult for any business owner to grow and expand their empires. Considering this, team managers or leaders play a crucial role in ensuring the quality performance and overall satisfaction of the employees. Without proper and suitable management strategies, it can be hard for a company to attract and retain its team members.
Manpower is forever an in-demand resource. However, so many factors make it challenging to keep employees from leaving for a different position or company. Thus, organizations need to prioritize creating a work environment and work culture that help stop employees from leaving.
According to a recent study, one of the primary reasons workers leaves their jobs has something to do with employee motivation. A significant lack or loss of employee motivation can greatly affect an organization’s performance, productivity, and efficiency.
But in what ways do human resource management and leadership styles influence employee motivation exactly? Here’s a brief overview and guide good leaders can use to learn more about employee management and effective leadership styles.
What Is Employee Motivation?
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Before we dive into the dynamics of different leadership styles, it’s important to understand the concept of employee motivation first.
Employee motivation is loosely defined to be the worker’s attitude toward their work and work conditions. However, the concept of employee motivation also involves the employee’s feelings, emotions, and perception of their work and career status.
Employee Motivation and the Most Common Leadership Styles
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Aside from guiding and leading team members, leaders play a crucial role in engaging their employees in order to ensure their satisfaction and commitment to work. In some circumstances, good compensation and work benefits are not enough to retain good employees. Even with a competitive salary, a toxic or stifling work culture and environment can easily turn away amazing talents.
With that, here’s an overview of the most common leadership styles in the workplace as well as the different ways in which managers can effectively motivate their employees.
Authoritative Leadership
An authoritative style of leadership is characterized by a “follow-me” approach. This style places leaders as mentors equipped with the knowledge, skill, and experience that would help successfully lead employees and the business in the right direction.
Authoritative leaders are often dubbed visionaries with big dreams for the business and their employees. Leaders following this approach tend to take the wheel and provide the overall direction for business plans and processes.
One important element of this leadership style puts emphasis on trust and good work relationships. An authoritative leader should know their team members on a personal level in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Doing so allows them to offer the appropriate level of support, guidance, and motivation.
However, the risk of micromanaging is a persistent challenge when it comes to this management approach. Since authoritative leaders are hands-on with every aspect of the business, the constant supervision and surveillance can be overwhelming or stifling for some.
How authoritative leaders motivate:
Authoritative leaders motivate by standing as mentors to each of their employees. Given this status, employees look up to their leader and rely fully on their knowledge, skill, and experience to consistently make the right decisions for the team and the company. Employees feel secure and comfortable knowing that someone is there to keep them productive and focused in order to achieve both their personal and career goals.
Transformational Leadership
Generally, a transformational style of leadership emphasizes the need for change, the value of the people involved, and the importance of setting their eyes on the future. For transformational leaders, change is inevitable and necessary to reach growth and development, whether it’s for personal or organizational success.
This approach also emphasizes the need to focus on the future and see the value of the people. Setting everyone’s eyes on the organization’s objectives allows everyone to be on the same page which is crucial to effectively motivate them to perform to the best of their potential and abilities.
Therefore, a transformational leader is someone who focuses on inspiring people in order to encourage change or transformation. This type of leadership works particularly well in organizations that are looking for drastic changes in work culture or environment. A transformational leader is able to inspire people and make employees feel motivated to reach their personal goals and career objectives.
How transformational leaders motivate:
Transformational leaders motivate employees by envisioning a bright and shining future for the company and for their employees. Establishing objectives that will bring success to the company and its members can motivate them to work hard knowing that every goal achieved offers benefits and leads to success.
Participative Leadership
A participative style of leadership adopts a democratic and collaborative management strategy. For this approach, the leader believes in the equality of ideas and values the input of every team member.
Participative leadership urges leaders or managers to take the time and effort needed to listen to their employees intently This leadership style also encourages employees to get involved in brainstorming ideas and making important business decisions. Through this, teams are able to work cohesively and effectively with the help of everyone available.
How participative leaders motivate:
One of the primary ways participative leaders motivate their employees is by getting them involved in business planning and decision-making processes. Taking into account the input, opinion, and experiences of the employees make them feel seen, acknowledged, and appreciated. This also makes them feel like valuable members of the organization than just simple cogs in the machine.
Delegative Leadership
A delegative style of leadership revolves around the concept of effectively delegating tasks to team members. This approach allows business owners to assign responsibility to an employee and provide them the flexibility and autonomy to work as they please.
For this strategy to be effective, delegative leaders should know and polish their delegation skills. Assigning tasks using this approach involves more than just giving assignments or projects to anyone responsible. A part of the delegation process includes learning and identifying employees’ strengths in order to best utilize their skills and abilities.
If done correctly, adopting a delegative leadership style doesn’t only save time. It also increases employee engagement and boosts productivity which can highly motivate employees in the long run.
How delegative leaders motivate:
Delegative leaders motivate their employees by giving them the opportunity to work with minimal surveillance and supervision. Under this style of leadership, tasks are assigned to people who are considered capable enough to work independently. Leaders would only ask for updates periodically and can even grant their employees decision-making authority. Delegative leaders motivate their employees to develop their skills while also letting them show what they are capable of.
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