Employee motivation starts with leadership

Creating a workplace that employees enjoy being a part of is the ideal for many businesses, especially with consumer confidence at historic lows and the housing market involved in a sluggish period of growth.

But the reality is that many firms find their staff deploring the level of moral presented by their comrades and dreading facing the working day - and it could all be the managers' fault.

Typically, the culture of a workplace is heavily influenced by the personalities of the people in charge - that's the boss and the department head - as they set the examples for others to follow.

A change in attitude by these individuals can have far-reaching implications for a business - and for more boutique firms, this can enhance the entire workplace experience.

It is therefore up to the managers and business leaders to encourage their employees, to discover their talents and passions and provide them with the kind of workload that best suits their abilities.

Positive feedback, generous incentive programs and dedicated leadership training can all go a long way to letting workers grow and develop their skills and interests in ways that can benefit a business.

Encouraging staff camaraderie with hosted events for special occasions can improve employee bonding, which in turn may lead to better levels of productivity as staff feel more at home in communicating between departments.