What motivates people at work?

We all love the feeling of being motivated – having the interest to give our best and do a job as well as possible. In a workplace, the positive energy that comes from motivation has a powerful effect on how much a team does and how well they do it. Motivation is the key to personal happiness and to the success of a business. But people don't always know how to achieve it.

Here are four keys to motivation at work:

Learning opportunities

If pay was all that mattered, we would expect people's motivation to look for a new job to be about salary. In fact, surveys show most people look for a new job to find new training and career opportunities. A LinkedIn survey showed 94 per cent of employees would stay in their company if it encouraged their learning and development.

Making a difference

People also need to feel that their work makes a difference. This sense of purpose means that people feel connected to the company and share its goals. If they don't feel as if their work matters, they will be unmotivated and unhappy.

Feeling recognised

Another motivator at work is recognition. Employers who want motivated staff must praise people when they achieve goals and give feedback that's personalised. This is just one of the things that feed?the culture in a company.

Positive company culture

You can think of company culture as being like the personality of the company. It's what makes working for one company feel different from working for another company. If people like the culture, they'll stay even when work becomes challenging. Another part of the culture can include options to work from home or work flexible hours. After all, the highest salary in the world is no use to employees if they have no work–life balance.

So if you asked someone to work for free, they would almost certainly say no. But if we look at what motivates people when they're actually at work, the money they earn is not the most important thing. The real answers are more complicated.