3 Ways to Inspire Your Team in the New Year

Keeping your team engaged at the start of a new year is essential to get everyone off to a positive start. During the holiday season, I encourage everyone to enjoy quality time with family, relax and recharge for the year ahead. Now that 2022 is upon us, team leaders need to provide a vision for the new year. I also believe in setting time aside in the first two weeks of the year to understand the personal and professional goals of every member of my team. I’ve outlined three ways leaders and business owners can inspire their team to have their best year yet.

Related: 4 Motivating TED Talks to Help You Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Share your vision

Often, people want to feel that they are part of something greater than themselves and feel connected to their organization’s mission. When I founded The Agency, we aimed to create a real estate brokerage based on collaboration. It has been imperative to us as we’ve grown to stay true to our founding principles. When speaking to a new agent or franchisee, we always start our conversations by focusing on our vision for the company and the future of our industry.

New and existing team members will benefit significantly from understanding your mission and will ultimately unify the efforts of all toward your long-term goal. Research suggests that communicating your mission statement is a prominent factor in keeping employees motivated. A research report by The Society for Human Resource Management found that more than half of U.S. private and federal employees stated their organization's mission was even more important to them than their own personal career opportunities. To kick off 2022, share your vision with your company to help guide the culture you worked so hard to create and help employees see their work’s meaning and purpose for the greater organization.

Motivate with honest feedback

Creating a positive work environment is essential for keeping your team motivated, but it must include a mix of both praise and honest feedback. A study published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior found that very high levels of positive effects actually lead to decreased practice behaviors. The research found that “positive affect” can lead employees to perceive that they are doing well and as a result, reduce the proactive output of work.

To inspire and motivate your team, it's crucial to find ways to not only foster positivity, but also provide constructive criticism when it comes to areas that can be improved upon. At the start of each year, I sit down with my team to review their achievements and goals for the upcoming year and work through areas of improvement, growth and professional development. Reviewing this at the start of each quarter will help you reach optimal productivity levels and keep your team inspired throughout the year.

Related: Passion, Grit, Resilience: The Formula for Success

Personally celebrate wins

There are endless opportunities to toast and celebrate the success and achievements of your team throughout the year. From landing new listings to closing record-breaking deals and achieving major career milestones, there are countless moments to celebrate our agents and staff throughout the year and several ways to do this. Often considered a lost art form, nothing beats a handwritten note to show you truly appreciate and care for your team. Taking the time to write out a simple “thank you” and “congratulations” for their hard work will illustrate that you’re thinking of them and have put pen to paper to show what their accomplishments mean to you and your firm. Additionally, in our fast-paced digital world, making a phone call to congratulate a job well done is a great way to show you value their contributions to your company. This personalized approach and time-honored tradition is a perfect way to showcase your appreciation in place of an email. Tokens of appreciation like these go a long way in encouraging and showing gratitude toward hard work.

Related: 3 Ways Executive Leaders Can Cultivate a High-Performance Team