Cathy Liska 
From ensuring your team has training resources to getting buy-in from your staff, here are 14 answers to the question, “Can you share your most effective tips on how to best motivate change in the workplace?”
● Provide Training and Support
● Create a Culture that Encourages It
● Instill a Sense of Urgency
● Focus on the Benefits Rather Than the Reasons
● Ease into Big Pivots with Smaller Changes
● Stay Connected and Establish Expectations
● Treat Your Employees Like Family
● Welcome Employee Input
● Provide Incentives
● Encourage Ownership
● Know Who You Are as a Leader
● Share Your Biggest Business Goals
● Keep It Consistent
● Involve Everyone in the Conversation
Provide Training and Support
Providing training and support is a critical aspect of motivating change in the workplace because it helps employees adapt to the new processes, tools, or technologies that are being implemented.
Change can be difficult and overwhelming, especially if employees are not familiar with the new ways of working. By providing training and support, organizations can help employees feel more confident and capable, which can increase their motivation and engagement.
Training and support also help employees understand how the change will benefit the organization and their own work, which can increase their buy-in and commitment to the change. Investing in training and support can help ensure that the change is successful and sustainable over the long term.
Brandon Brown, CEO, GRIN
Create a Culture that Encourages It
To motivate change in the workplace, it’s important to create a culture that values and encourages innovation and experimentation.
Make sure your employees understand what is expected of them and how their work fits into the bigger picture. This can help them feel more invested in their work and motivated to succeed.
Create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas and feedback. This can help foster a sense of collaboration and encourage innovation.
Provide training and development opportunities so employees can build new skills and take on new challenges. This can help them feel more engaged and motivated in their work.
Celebrate when employees achieve their goals or make positive changes in the workplace. This can help reinforce the importance of change and motivate others to follow suit.
Brenton Thomas, CEO, Twibi
Instill a Sense of Urgency
I personally believe that creating a sense of urgency is a powerful way to motivate change in the workplace. Employees are more willing to take action and make improvements when they experience a feeling of urgency.
Leaders can instill a feeling of urgency by emphasizing the necessity of the change and emphasizing the repercussions of failing to make the change. Leaders should be straightforward and direct in their communication to create a sense of urgency. They should use data and examples to show the urgency of the problem and the risks of inaction.
Leaders should also establish a clear timeline for the transition and convey the expectations for what the team must complete within that timeframe. Nonetheless, I believe it is critical to balance a sense of urgency and realistic expectations. Leaders should avoid creating a panicked or tense situation because this can cause burnout and diminished motivation.
Andrew Priobrazhenskyi, CEO and Director, Discount Reactor
Focus on the Benefits Rather Than the Reasons
One of our best tips for helping people make changes at work is to focus on the benefits rather than the reasons for making the change. When people resist doing a change, it’s often because they’re focused on why it might not work or why it’s a bad idea. Shifting their focus to why it will work and how it will benefit them, in the long run, helps motivate them to take the step.
Let’s say your company is introducing a new project management tool to improve efficiency and streamline processes. However, some team members are resistant to the change, citing concerns about the learning curve.
To motivate change, you can emphasize the benefits of the new tool. For example, you can highlight how it will reduce the time spent on administrative tasks, freeing up more time for creative work. You could also showcase how the tool has been successful in other companies and how it will position your company as a more innovative and efficient workplace.
Luciano Colos, Founder and CEO, PitchGrade
Ease into Big Pivots with Smaller Changes
Start small. If you have a plan for a large-scale change that seems overwhelming, try breaking it into smaller steps or milestones. This will help employees feel more comfortable with the changes and make the transition smoother.
Otherwise, some team members may feel threatened by the changes, and members of management may feel overwhelmed with implementing them.
Victor Mathieux, Co-founder and CEO, Miracle Brand
Stay Connected and Establish Expectations
Staying connected and establishing expectations is crucial in a professional environment. Many workers may have negative opinions and feel that you shouldn’t change something if it’s not broken.
Employees can work unrealistic hours to adapt to change, which creates burnout and decreases productivity. It’s crucial that senior leadership sets proper working boundaries and ensures that the update is good for the business. While this new way of working is new, we embrace the changes while growing our team.
Kenneth Lin, CEO, BOOP Bakery
Treat Your Employees Like Family
For motivating change in the workplace, family values and leading by example are essential tools to create your family legacy. Family values can help create an environment of trust and loyalty among employees while leading by example can ensure that everyone is behind your company’s mission.
By setting a good example and inspiring your team with family values, you can motivate them to make positive changes in the workplace. This will not only benefit your business but also create a strong bond between you and your loyal team members to all work as one big extended family.
Donna Werner, Chief Administrative Officer and Co-founder, GhostBed
Welcome Employee Input
If employees feel that they have a say in the change, they are more likely to be invested in it. Encourage staff to talk about their thoughts and suggestions about how to make the necessary adjustments.
Include their comments and ideas in the process by asking for their input and listening to what they have to say. Including employees in the process not only shows that their thoughts and ideas are respected but also allows you to leverage the extensive knowledge and experience that is contained within the workforce.
Alex Constantinou, Managing Director, The Fitne
Provide Incentives
Incentives such as bonuses or recognition programs can push employees to embrace change and drive the desired behavior in the workplace. I believe it is also critical to maintain transparency throughout the transformatiGive progress updates and be open to employee criticism and suggestions. This contributes to the development of trust and the retention of employees.
Ethan Bull, Owner, ProAssisting
Encourage Ownership
Encourage employees to take ownership of change and ensure that they understand how it benefits them. Offer incentives for successful change implementation and encourage team collaboration, open communication, and supportive feedback. Celebrate success and recognize employees for their efforts in creating positive change.
Ranee Zhang, VP of Growth, Airgram
Know Who You Are as a Leader
Having a strong leadership identity is a really great way to motivate change in the workplace. When you know how you operate as a leader and you follow through with it, you can encourage your team to follow your lead.
This helps to instill confidence in your team, which is important to create a powerful group. When you’re a leader who doesn’t know how to be a leader, or what your strengths are, you will not be as successful in your team endeavors.
Knowing who you are as a leader helps to motivate change in the workplace because people want to follow your lead and feel empowered to be excellent team members.
Allen King, CEO, Fun Join
Share Your Biggest Business Goals
If none of your team members understand what your future vision for the business is, then it becomes tough to instill motivation. If your team knows what your larger business goals are, then they are most likely going to understand what is needed of them collectively to attain them.
It helps when your employees also want the same for the business, which is why it’s important to have a healthy company culture that all team members are comfortable with.
Daniel Climans, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing and Partnerships, Sticker You
Keep It Consistent
Change can be difficult, but it’s necessary for many businesses to stay competitive. To motivate change, create a clear and consistent message about the need for change and why it is important.
Ensure your team understands why a specific change is being made and how it will benefit them in the long run. Get everyone involved by asking for their feedback on the proposed changes, giving people an opportunity to express their opinions, ideas, and concerns. Host regular meetings or workshops to review progress and discuss any challenges that arise.
Last, recognize individual successes—whether directly related to the recent changes or not — as this incentivizes employees to continue working hard despite any obstacles they may come up against. Having a positive attitude toward change can make all the difference!
Nick Rivadeneira, Founder, Racebuilds
Involve Everyone in the Conversation
For me, the key to successful workplace motivation and change is to involve everyone in the conversation. Inviting all members of a team to share their ideas for improvement—no matter their level or experience in the organization—not only models an inclusive environment but also encourages creative thinking.
By listening carefully and responding with respect and appreciation, you create more buy-in and encourage productive conversations. Adopting this technique within your team ensures that changes are supported, appreciated, and understood by those affected by them.
Joe Troyer, CEO and Growth Advisor, Digital Triggers
