It’s no secret that motivation ebbs and flows. We all feel this throughout the year, the month, the week and even experience day-specific variations in levels of productivity.
Research has shown that certain times of the year and even certain days of the week are more productive than others. As an EHS professional, you need to take advantage of peak motivation to facilitate behavior change to make your workplace safer, increase productivity or even just to create a more positive work environment.
Peak Motivation Times
- September (back to school vibes and everyone is returning from vacation)
- January (piggy-back on the excitement around New Year’s resolutions)
- Early spring (in much of North America and across Europe this is a time when many emerge from the sobering effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder or just the winter blues in general)
- Pay day
- Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Let Mondays be a time for employees to get back into the swing of things and set their goals/tasks for the week, and we all know the last day of the work week is a mad scramble to tie up loose ends before shifting into weekend mode.
Remember that individual motivation levels are just that, INDIVIDUAL. There are other factors that can influence a worker’s motivation that are beyond your control.
What you can do to optimize success in facilitating behaviour change is engaging with employees when you know that they might be more susceptible to adaptation and new information. To start, use the guidelines above and test them out. You will have to refine your strategy because every workforce is unique (industry, work shifts, geography, average age, type of task, etc.), but if you’re at least taking the time to consider best entry point for optimal engagement, then you’re on the right track.
Do you have any experience with tapping into employee motivation throughout the year? Any feedback on what works and what doesn’t? Share it with this community of your peers in the comments below.
Additional Reading
Why Monday is your most productive day of the week. Michael Grothaus. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/40528553/why-monday-is-your-most-productive-day-of-the-week
A Behaviour Model for Persuasive Design. BJ Fogg. Stanford University. https://www.mebook.se/images/page_file/38/Fogg%20Behavior%20Model.pdf
Jennifer Chylinski is a Content Specialist at Intelex Technologies Inc., focusing on engagement within the workplace. You can read her profile by clicking HERE.
