The process of learning how to best motivate your employees is long but rewarding. And as employee motivation is one of the greatest factors that influence your business's ability to generate profit, it's important that you know how to motivate the people working for you in the most effective way.

7 Things You Need to Know about Employee Motivation

People Have Different Needs - If you've ever had a theology class, your professor might have mentioned that people were created unique but fundamentally equal. Thus, it's important that you treat your employees fairly and without bias but at the same time acknowledge the fact that people have different needs as well. Thus, it's important that you employ different ways of motivating them to take into account their differences. These differences can manifest itself through an employee's race, culture, gender, educational attainment, work experience, age, or other similar factors.

To know which factors a person best responds to, you need to take the time to get to know your employees one by one.

Fear Only Has Temporary Effects - Yes, fear can indeed work as a motivational factor but only for a temporary basis. In the long run, it may still be able to ensure that your employees work the way you want them to but they're certainly not doing so for the right reasons. And in the end, these employees will either rebel against you or leave your company. Either way, you lose.

Money Matters - Say all you want about intrinsic motivation but in the end, it's never enough to put food on the table. You need to offer both types of motivations to your employees if you want them to perform the way you want them to. You need to give them both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and there are no exceptions to this rule.

Make Them an Integral Part of the Company - You only need to look at how companies like Disney and Starbucks operate and you'll understand just how important it is to show that you can't survive without your employees. It's a given already that they need your company to survive - you're the one issuing their paychecks after all - but they won't be able to feel that it's a vice-versa-thing unless you prove it to them. When they realize that you mutually need each other, your employees will definitely feel more motivated to work harder even if you're not promising them a hefty cash bonus at the end of the rainbow.

Do Not Delay - When an employee achieves a particular feat, make sure that you reward him appropriately and immediately. Delaying on giving the employee the reward he so richly deserves will only cause him to lose motivation in continuing to do the same in the future.

Give Your Employees the Freedom to Choose - Just because you feel that a particular reward is best for a particular employee doesn't necessarily mean that the said employee will agree as well. As such, it's important that you always give your employees the freedom to choose which prize they wish to work for.

Lead by Example - Employees won't be sufficiently motivated even if you're giving them a lot of incentives to work hard IF you're not working the same hours they do. As manager or owner of a business, it's important that you lead by example. Don't ask others to do something that you're not willing and able to do yourself!