4 Ways To Motivate Your Employees (That Don’t Include A Raise)

Talent is the single most important factor in building a successful business. Whether the goal is to design and sell a top-notch product, or provide winning services that outshine the competition, a company without a roster of grade-A employees will not be able to grow or set itself apart in the market.

In a market in which the competition for top talent is fierce, a winning company culture and valuable perks can help companies attract and hire great people. Those elements can also forge stronger ties with existing employees; boosting their motivation and inspiring them within the organization.

Here at JetRockets we focus on creating a work environment that allows our developers to enrich themselves with more than just their compensation package. We offer them avenues to new experiences and expertise, while consistently showing them that they are valued members of the team and that what they do truly matters.

Here are several simple things we do to help keep our team of tech pros.

1) Open the Door to New Skills and Experiences

Developers and coders operate in a world made up of various programming languages, systems applications and product focuses. Applying those skills-sets to different industries can be an exciting adventure, and an opportunity to learn.

At JetRockets we give our people the chance to do just that by seeking out interesting and challenging projects that require expertise in different technologies and industries. While working with our customers in the financial services industry, for example, our developers educated themselves on the space in order to build and implement a system that runs finance-oriented businesses efficiently.

When JetRockets took on a complex data analytics product development project for a global online publisher, our team learned a whole new set of technical tools in order to build a program that met the client’s exacting requirements.

That type of earned, practical know-how developed through tackling new challenges keeps employees interested in the work while boosting their capabilities. It also has real value on the open market, which they will appreciate as they advance in their careers.

2) Invest in Employee Education

Business is a global game, and working with international clients and partners is imperative for any company looking to grow. Companies that don’t seek customers overseas and across borders will find themselves overtaken by those that do.

To that end, organizations with a language-savvy workforce have an undeniable edge. At JetRockets we invest in ongoing education for our people—the majority of whom are located in Tver, Russia—by sponsoring English language classes. We know that the more employees we have that can speak to our customers in a common language the better off our company will be as it looks to expand to new markets.

But we don’t stop there, we also offer peer-led technical educational activities in which coworkers can learn new skills from their colleagues, and we make available to them an open library of books for their use. This lets employees develop their skills in areas where they feel they could use a refresher.

The end result is a more highly skilled employee who has increased his or her value as a professional while sacrificing merely a smidgen of personal time. It’s a win-win!

3) Encourage Client Connection

Making new projects more interesting for your employees is a good way of keeping them motivated as they pivot from task to task, mission to mission, all the way through to completion.

We’ve found that one great way to do that is to remove the barrier between the development team and the client. When we assign our staff to tackle a new project, we encourage close communication with that client to create a better teamwork dynamic and to increase our team members’ feeling of accountability.

When both sides start talking, the client comes to feel that all of its needs are being addressed by a group of professionals it has come to know and respect. Our teams, too, benefit from the more personal relationship because it allows them to understand and appreciate the larger mission the client is hoping to achieve. That makes the job more fun, while instilling a feeling of ownership of the work.

4) Show Appreciation for Good Ideas

No employee wants to stay at a company that makes them feel small and insignificant. If you do not welcome the opinions and input of the people who work for, then that is inevitably how you will make them feel.

Remember, you hired these people because they had the expertise and qualifications to do the job. Now that they are part of your team, embrace all they have to offer, including the ideas they have for making your organization more efficient and the strategies they suggest for completing projects. Tech pros love working for companies that make them feel respected and valued, and they’re repelled by the ones that don’t.

At JetRockets, we encourage innovation and welcome change, and if an employee suggests a new idea that could improve some process or might solve a tough problem we face, we are always open to trying it out.