Managers are constantly trying to discover that golden carrot that motivates employees. Is it recognition? Incentives? Clear goals? Most managers would place those motivators high on their list. But employees would prefer meaningful work. Employees want to know that they contribute to the overall goals and successes of your organization, in fact, that’s their number one driver!

Author and Harvard Professor Teresa Amabile, Ph.D., completed extensive research to understand the factors that had the greatest positive and negative impact on employees and discovered that employees’ “best days” were those in which they made progress on projects considered “meaningful” to the organization’s mission, while their “worst days” were those in which they faced setbacks. Employees want to contribute to the overall success of the organization. Managers can help employees feel like they matter by helping them make progress towards work.

Clear, meaningful goals.
Autonomy.
Sufficient resources to do the work.
Help with the work, such as access to information.
Ability to learn from problems and successes.
Open idea flow.
Sufficient time.
Respect and recognition.
Encouragement.
Emotional support.
Affiliation and camaraderie.

Seems easy enough? Provide your employees with the tools and support they need to do their job – and they are actually motivated to do an even better job.