No Money? Now what? How to Motivate a Team without Salary or Promotion

How to Motivate Your Team During a Salary Freeze

“You calmed that client down on Tuesday, and that saved the renewal. That was excellent work.”

Picture saying that in your next team meeting with everyone listening. The person you named sits up a little straighter. Everyone else in the room just learned what good looks like on your team, and what you want to see more of.

No cost involved. And when a salary freeze hits and promotions go on hold, moments like that one are where your power as a manager sits.

Why the Day to Day Beats the Annual Review

Most managers treat the annual review as the big motivator. That one meeting decides the raise, the title, the bonus. So when budgets freeze, managers assume they have nothing left to offer.

Your team lives their job every workday. The review happens once. What you do on a daily basis, the culture you create, and the opportunities that you offer carry more weight than any single point in time. Start every team meeting with a small win. Write someone a note, and post it on a board so other people see that you noticed.

Fix the Small Annoying Things

Every team has one. The report that's never read, the broken process, the 17 step approval process. Your people complain about it constantly, and they’ve stopped expecting anyone to do anything about it.

Fix it. Better yet, get them involved in figuring out how to fix it. Removing a daily irritation tells your team you listen, and it gives them back time. Those wins go a lot further with your team than you would ever imagine.

Build a Bigger Menu of Motivators

Pay raises and promotions are two items on a long menu. Most managers never look at the rest of it. Here are three moves, from quick to harder:

1. The quick win: Recognize someone every day. Name the behavior and the impact. Skip “Great job.” Say what they did and why it mattered, in front of other people.
2. A little harder: Build out your menu. Ask other managers how they motivate their people. Go to HR and find the programs you’ve never used, like mentor programs and employee resource groups, conferences, certifications, flexibility, stretch projects, unused perks.
3. Harder still: Work with your peer group on an informal job rotation or shadow program across a couple of departments, so people get opportunity and exposure.

Then match the options to the people. The menu only works when you know which person wants a mentor and which one wants to see how another department runs.

Help People See the Value in Their Work

Yes, a salary freeze hits morale. Yes, people notice when the raise doesn’t come. But it’s up to you to help them look at it differently. People serve others outside of work all the time, and they can do it inside of work, too. Help them see who their work serves.

Make your team a place people want to stay because they love their job, and be the one who helped them realize it.

This is the final episode of the Beyond the Ladder series. Watch this week’s Mini but Mighty℠ Leadership Lesson on YouTube. Beyond the Ladder: How to Motivate Your Team Without a Raise or Promotion

Where to Start

1. Episode 1: Beyond the Ladder: Why You Should Help Your Best People Leave 
2. Episode 2: Beyond the Ladder: Not Everyone Wants Your Job. How to Motivate and Develop Your Team. 

Lead yourself. Then lead others. Be a Boss.

 If you lead an organization where every manager needs new ways to motivate people beyond pay and promotions, this is what we do. Boss at the Helm cultivates intentional leaders across your management team, grounded in the Helm Method℠. Reach out at bossatthehelm.com/contact.