{"id":1463,"date":"2026-02-04T10:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/?p=1463"},"modified":"2026-02-24T12:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:04:33","slug":"employee-motivation-how-to-measure-strengthen-and-sustain-it-long-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/blog\/employee-motivation-how-to-measure-strengthen-and-sustain-it-long-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Employee Motivation: How to Measure, Strengthen, and Sustain It Long-Term"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

We know how it is in February. People are tired, the light is low and energy is running low, and the summer holidays are still a long way off. Employee motivation is almost disappearing before our eyes. The good news is that you can work with it. You can measure, strengthen and maintain it in the long term<\/strong> without having to do complex programs or large surveys.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

How to find out what motivates people<\/h2>\n

Don’t wait for an annual survey. A short questionnaire once every two to three months is enough. For example, ask what people enjoy about work, what energizes them and what would help them work with more enthusiasm. A combination of a rating scale and one open-ended question is usually more than enough. Also monitor indirect signals. Is absenteeism increasing? Do people seem passive? These are often clear indicators of motivation. The tools don’t have to be complicated, for example Google Forms or regular HR software are quite sufficient.<\/p>\n

The results will often surprise you. For example, a survey in one Czech software company revealed that employees do not lack benefits, but simple recognition from their superiors. All they needed was to introduce short praise after a successful project. The result? Absenteeism decreased and the team atmosphere improved significantly.<\/p>\n

How to measure employee satisfaction?<\/h2>\n

Pulse surveys<\/h3>\n

Send out a short anonymous survey with 5-8 questions once a month or quarterly (e.g. via Google Forms or Typeform). Focus on key areas: relationship to work, feeling of recognition, workload, team relationships, trust in management. Use a scale of 1-10 or 1-5 and monitor trends over time \u2013 a one-time result is not enough.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score)<\/h3>\n

Simple question: \u201cWould you recommend our company as a good place to work?\u201d (scale 0-10). Divide the answers into promoters (9-10), passives (7-8) and critics (0-6). Complete with an open-ended question \u201cWhy?\u201d for context. Advantage: quick comparison with benchmarks (global average is around 30).<\/p>\n

Regular 1:1 interviews<\/h3>\n

Managers should have a short one-on-one meeting with the team at least once a month. Just three questions are enough:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • What gives you energy right now?<\/li>\n
  • What takes it away from you?<\/li>\n
  • What can I help you with?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    You will get qualitative data that questionnaires will not reveal.<\/p>\n

    Hard data indicators<\/h3>\n

    Monitor the rate of absence, turnover, internal transfers, involvement in activities or the speed of task completion (e.g. in HR systems like Personio). Sudden changes signal problems before surveys.<\/p>\n

    Team heat map<\/h3>\n

    Conduct an anonymous poll (e.g. Mentimeter or flashcards) once a month in a meeting:<\/p>\n

    \u201cHow do I feel on a scale of 1-5?\u201d Fast, visual and opens up discussion.<\/p>\n

    Exit and Stay interview<\/h3>\n

    Talk not only to those leaving, but also to those staying: \u201cWhy are you here and what would make you leave?\u201d A short conversation will reveal hidden risks.<\/p>\n

    The most important rule: Always share the results and say what you will do with them (e.g. \u201cThanks to you, we introduced flexitime\u201d). Without action, measurement becomes a formality that reduces trust.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    How to boost motivation right now<\/h2>\n

    Money and benefits only work in the short term. Long-term motivation is driven by a sense of meaning, relationships, and recognition. Simple regular feedback is enough, and it does not have to be formal; often a few specific sentences are enough: \u201cThanks for the great presentation\u201d or \u201cI was really pleasantly surprised by the way you handled the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Small challenges also help. Entrust management of a smaller project or involve someone in decision-making. And don\u2019t forget about teamwork. It doesn\u2019t have to be a big team building event. Sharing ideas, solving problems together, or small informal activities are often enough. For example, by introducing mentoring and role rotation between junior and more experienced employees, you can significantly reduce burnout and significantly increase people\u2019s motivation to get involved in projects.<\/p>\n

    How to maintain motivation in the long term<\/h2>\n

    Motivation is not a sprint, but a marathon. To last, it must be part of the company culture. Trust, the opportunity for growth and a sense of security play a major role. Companies that combine employee development with respect for their personal needs have more stable teams and lower turnover. In the long run, it pays to monitor motivation quarterly. Not for the sake of tables, but so that you can react in time and adapt your approach to the current situation in the company.<\/p>\n

    This is where the role of leaders and managers comes in. HR programs alone will not save motivation. Management must actively show that it is safe to say what is bothering you, and that mistakes are not punished, but serve as a learning experience. Managers should communicate regularly and, most importantly, live the company values \u200b\u200bin practice,<\/strong> not just have them written on the website or noticeboard. This can mean, for example, openly sharing stories when the team acted according to the values, or recognizing and rewarding behavior that reflects the values. Unfortunately, we know from practice that the opposite approach is more common: pressure only on performance, excessive control, emphasis on mistakes, unrealistic expectations and taking employee efforts for granted are often the standard that reduces motivation very quickly.<\/p>\n

    First steps that you can take right away<\/h2>\n

    You don’t have to start with a big revolution. Do a mini-survey, choose two specific steps that can be tried right away, and check the results after a few weeks. Small changes often show up faster than you would expect. In short: employee motivation is not a “nice to have”. It is one of the easiest ways to retain people, reduce pressure on HR and create an environment where it is good to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    How to find out what motivates people Don’t wait for an annual survey. A short questionnaire once every two to three months is enough. For example, ask what people enjoy about work, what energizes them and what would help them work with more enthusiasm. A combination of a rating scale and one open-ended question is usually more than…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1463"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1486,"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463\/revisions\/1486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weareforhumans.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}