motivation

Motivating employees is very important if you want to get things done correctly. An employee might be willing to get things done, but if they are poorly motivated, they probably will not put a lot of thought and effort into it. There are a few things I have noticed that motivate me, and also some things that do the opposite of motivate me.
A couple examples of things that have motivated me in the past are: when I had a regional manager compliment me on a job well done when I was just a new employee. I worked hard, and I felt it paid off when someone noticed my work and said something about it. Another example is a time when I had a manager sit down and talk and work with me. This made me feel like she realized the job I was doing was important, and I was important as an employee.
Some example of times when i have been unmotivated by a managers actions are: when I had a manager who worked with me almost daily, but he never bothered to remember my name. To me this not only meant that he didn't really care about me, but he also didn't recognize the work I had done. Another time is when I had a manager criticize the team I was working with, but he was never there to help us or teach us how we could do a better job. I felt like we were really on our own, and we had to teach ourselves. He wanted us to do everything his way, but he never taught us what his way was.
Motivating employees can be very tricky. It is important to help them and teach them, but they also need to learn somethings on their own, and they need to use and develop their own critical thinking skills. It is also important that the employees don't feel like they are being nagged, or constantly criticized. They need to know that you recognize the things they are doing well.