Now that you have spent many hours and resources interviewing, hiring, and training your staff, there is still one important step that you need to take in order to truly complete the process of creating a great staff. This step involves the process of planning how you are going to motivate and take care of them. Remember, if you take care of them, they are going to take care of you, and more important—take care of your guests.

Understanding what motivates your staff is the key to the process. Research shows that some of the top motivators in the workplace are recognition, advancement, responsibility and achievement, belonging to a team or group, and the potential for growth. These are factors that employees say contribute to their motivation to perform better at work. Salary, work conditions, and job security are not considered motivators. They fall into the category of hygiene factors—they keep employees coming to work but do not motivate them to raise the bar. A solid motivation plan will have hygiene factors and motivators installed.

A good start to find out what motivates your specific waterpark staff is to survey them. Create a short survey to pass out to your employees. List motivators and hygiene factors and ask to have them rank “What Motivates Me” in order of importance, No. 1 being the most important and 10 being the least. Pass the surveys out and request that they take a few minutes right then to fill them out and turn them in. Conducting the survey preseason will allow managers and supervisors time to analyze the results, create their plans accordingly, and implement them by opening day.

Here are some ideas you can use or expand upon, taken from the survey used at Wild Island.

After compiling the information from the survey, create ideas that capitalize on the rankings. For example, if the ranking “fun” was strong, incorporate more fun into your activities and events. Set the tone early on. Have owners and managers do karaoke at employee parties. Play season-long board games at the end of staff meetings. Arrange a staff bowling event with a disco theme. Play hide-and-go-seek, managers vs. supervisors, using the handheld radios. Have a “Bring Your Parents to Work” day. Remember, if you are having fun, your employees are probably having fun, too.

One motivator that seems to rank very high in all surveys that I have seen is “belonging to a team or group.” There are some great ways to capitalize on this particular motivator. A video compiled of various employee videos and produced by the company can capture the season and give the employee a lasting, physical reminder of his waterpark family. Yearbooks with individual and group pictures evoke the same gratification. T-shirts or jackets given to employees indicating the number of seasons they have worked can bring a feeling of pride and belonging. ID badges with symbols that recognize the number of seasons worked and/or other symbols of achievement all promote this specific motivator.

Wondering about the “baha bonus” mentioned in the survey? At Wild Island, we have an incentive program that awards staff for going above and beyond. They are given a certificate for each point. Each certificate is divided in two parts. Half is retained by the employee who, when he or she has collected three, turns them in and reaches into a bag to pull out a small gift—such as movie tickets or a local restaurant gift certificate. The other half goes into a large drum for an end-of-season raffle for more significant gifts— skis, stereos, or a car. To be eligible for the end-of-season raffle, an employee must work days in September. It’s an excellent program. It acknowledges a job well done, affords staff immediate and long-term gratification, and retains our staff through the end of the season.

Adopting a plan that begins with a survey to determine top motivators, and capitalizing on it with creativity anddedication to promote the rankings, will help your park, guests, and staff enjoy a great summer season.