Motivation comes not only from within but from inspiration from others. Many employers have resulted to the reward method to inspire their employees to work harder. For some companies, the reward method really does work. However, it often turns into an expectation more than a reward. One employer decided to thank his employees for their hard work by providing them with a free lunch every Friday. This nice gesture abruptly stopped when he had employees start turning in receipts for lunches they purchased at other places on Friday because they didn't like the food he brought. His nice gesture went from a reward to an expectation almost immediately.

Employees also get upset when you withdraw the reward, making it difficult to achieve motivation without a reward. Rewards also tend to level-off over time. Since people know they are always there, they will stop working as hard to achieve them. If you want them to work harder, you need to provide them with a bigger reward.

Several employers use negative motivation to get their employees to work harder. Negative motivation does not work; in fact only 10% percent of employees actually respond to it and make changes. Instead of telling employees to "do this or else you will be fired," start taking a positive approach. Make them find ways to appreciate their job. Companies that did this saw that 70% of their employees were happier and motivated to come to work each day.

Mangers often assume the role of being the company cheerleader and they take it upon themselves to motivate each of their employees to find the desire to work harder and to truly love their job. Instead of assuming the role of the cheerleader, managers must learn to step back and evaluate each of their employees and help them find ways to motivate themselves.

For most employees, motivation will come through 4 different things:

• Challenges - Employees need to have something difficult to work against so they have a feeling of accomplishment when they achieve it.


• Control - Employees must also have a choice in the work they are doing. If they are constantly being told what to do, they will lose their desire to work hard and a job becomes just a job to them.


• Cooperation - Employees must learn how to work well with their co-workers. Building a friendly office environment will motivate people to come to work because they want to be around their co-workers. They will look forward to seeing these people on a daily basis and they will enjoy working with them.


• Recognition - Employees need to receive feedback for their work. If they are constantly submitting work and not getting anything back from their managers, they start to lose motivation to work hard. They don't know if their work is even acceptable of if it is even reviewed by their manager.


• Trust - Employees are happier with their jobs when they can trust the people they work with. If they come to you with a problem, they trust you to help them and to keep it to yourself.