Fundamental to the issue of motivation is the distinction between employee loyalty to the  company  and  employee  commitment.  Employees  feel  loyal  when  they  feel comfortable and well looked after job security, reasonable conditions of pay, generous holiday entitlement, medical insurance and a good pension. Without these conditions an employee will feel neither loyalty to the company nor any motivation to work. But it  is  also  possible  that  even  with  good  conditions,  the  employee  may  not  feel motivated. This is because performance is not directly related to working conditions: an employee can feel secure. whether he works hard or not.

Motivation has more to do with commitment to the job. The conditions that produce commitment are different from those that inspire loyalty. Committed employees will have  a  clear  sense of  the  goals  of  the  company  and  understand  their  part  in contributing to achieving them. Moreover, they will believe that these goals are worth working for: they will derive job satisfaction from what they do. So companies who want a motivated staff ought to be spending their time thinking about their goals and communicating these with enthusiasm to their staff.

Instead,  the  motivation  debate  seems to  focus  on  rewards,  either  financial  or non-financial. For example money is commonly used as an incentive for sales people or  others  with  measurable targets  to  reach. Sometimes it  is  also  used to  reward employees whose performance has been evaluated subjectively  by  a  line  manager. This is less satisfactory. Verbal commendation is also used to motivate, from a simple word of encouragement in the employee's ear to a public award ceremony.

But do all these types of rewards motivate people? Well yes, they do. They motivate them  to  get  rewards.  What  they  don't  necessarily do  is  motivate  them  to  be  a committed employee and do a good job. What really motivates people is the level of satisfaction they find in their work. As Herzberg famously put it:‘If you want people motivated to do a good job, give them a good job to do'

So the real motivators are things which are intrinsic to the job: that the employee feels part of a unit that is working towards something worthwhile. And from this as long as communication between employee and management is open and respectful, will come recognition  for  good work,  advancement in  the company and personal growth.  The best that companies can do is to create such an environment and then hope that within it people are able to motivate themselves.