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The one thing any human being wishes for, no matter where he/she is, is to be valued and appreciated, and being at work is no exception. Money is one motivation for working, but it is not the main motivation. Progress at work is the real encouragement and represents one of the highest forms of achievement in one's life. Money is a vehicle to a better quality of life, but if there is no clear personal value or appreciation, workers become demoralised through simple neglect and tend to vote with their feet.

There are many ways to motivate employees and most of them have little to do with money. The five best ones are listed below.

1. Thank each employee personally at least once each month. Personal thanks emphasise the value of the person to the company, it gives opportunity for praise, especially where the employee's input has been instrumental in recent company success, and allows management to interact on a meaningful level with their workers. This also gets rid of the isolated feeling employees often have of being just smalls cog in a big machine. Above all, it offers regular recognition and becomes separate from any performance review.

2. Select 'employees of the month' for various aspects of the job. Employees love to be recognised in this way because they know whatever they are doing is being appreciated. The constant competition also tends to keep workers on their toes which indirectly lifts the quality of the performance, the ultimate service to users and the reputation of the company.

3. Make a note of their birthdays and send a special present or surprise bouquet to every worker on their day. This not only highlights how significantly they are treated, but it would motivate them to appreciate their establishment even more. Encourage them to talk about any personal successes so that colleagues and management can celebrate with them.

4. Adopt flexible hours which would allow the workers who are recognised to be contributing the most to get occasional free time off - a half day here and there. This would have the effect of helping to boost production even more as staff try to complete tasks more efficiently to gain more free time.

5. Be open and transparent with employees so that they are aware of how the business is doing, their contribution to its success and how much they are valued in the process. Above all, PRAISE as often as possible and criticise sparingly. People are often motivated by a carrot rather than a stick, so singling them out for praise where deserved is a powerful motivator in any business.

In general terms, as long as the employee is made to feel valued, special and appreciated, they will feel motivated and inspired to do that little bit extra, well beyond their monetary worth, which can only benefit the establishment too.

Learn more about this author, Elaine Sihera.
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