Motivation plays a key role in keeping teams productive and engaged. But ask yourself; are your team members truly motivated and enjoying the work they do? Understanding this can make all the difference in retaining talent and helping your people perform at their best.
“Fewer than one in five (17%) employees feel like going to work each day, according to research by Mental Health First Aid England (MHFA)” says HR Magazine. This eye-opening figure makes it apparent that understanding motivation among our teams has never been more important.
So, what really motivates your team? Research shows it’s not just about money, though certainly, that’s one of the key motivating factors. The top 5 considerations when choosing a new job are pay and compensation, job security, the work itself, employee benefits, and flexible work hours, says Korn Ferry.
It boils down to three main factors: autonomy, meaningful work, and of course, the money that truly drive motivation and engagement.
- Autonomy entails letting your team decide how they do their work. If people are given some free reign, they will become more productive and will stop feeling micromanaged.
- Meaningful work goes beyond completing tasks … it’s about helping your team see the impact of their efforts. Recognising achievements, showing how their contributions support the bigger picture, and connecting their work to the company’s mission can boost engagement and motivation
- Money makes the world go around. Fair pay is essential, but it’s not enough to retain talent just on its own.
Pay sets out the ever-important baseline, but autonomy and purpose create long-lasting engagement, loyalty, and high performance, all of which pave the way toward business success. Let’s look at a few ways to ensure you’re offering your team the motivation they need.
Autonomy
- Delegate meaningful decisions: Allow team members to make choices about how they approach projects. Often managers or leaders will only delegate admin tasks and try to do everything important themselves, but this is why you have a team. If you’ve curated a highly skilled team, have the confidence in them to take charge of tasks in their sphere.
- Flexible working hours: Let team members manage their own schedules where possible. Let your team inform your decisions by letting you know where they feel they will be most productive.
The 2025’s Critical Workforce Insights Survey by Korn Ferry, that surveyed over fifteen thousand professionals globally, says that currently 52% of UK respondents work in office full-time, but only 17.3% actually want to be there.
11.8% of UK employees work remote full time, but 25.1% of employees would like to be fully remote, and 49.5% of employees would like a hybrid work arrangement.
- Empower with responsibility: Give ownership of key tasks or mini projects to your team to encourage accountability and initiative. If they feel the task belongs wholly to them, and they are responsible for its execution, they will rise to the occasion.
Meaningful Work
Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey that looked at 23,482 Gen Z and Millennial respondents over 44 countries says, “For UK Gen Zs and Millennials, a sense of purpose is overwhelmingly important for job satisfaction and wellbeing (88% and 92%, respectively).” This figure showcases the importance of aiming to ensure job satisfaction and one such facet of this, is expressing appreciation for your team.
- Connect tasks to the bigger picture: Regularly show and express how individual contributions impact clients or the company as a whole. Acknowledging these contributions will lead to team members feeling seen and appreciated.
- Celebrate wins and impact: Share positive client feedback or measurable results to reinforce purpose and make sure your team knows that you value their success and not simply their work.
- Align roles with strengths and values: Assign work that taps into team members’ skills and interests. So much potential is wasted when employers pigeon-hole employees and refuse to let them hone skills that may be outside their job description. If your receptionist wants to get a qualification in cyber security, encouraging that or even going so far as to assist, will create a sense of loyalty to the company, meaning you can later tap into these skills.
Money
“70% of those in the 2025 Korn Ferry Workforce survey are feeling concerned about the cost of living outpacing their current salary. And 35% believe they are paid below the value of their skills.”
- Ensure pay is fair: Conduct market benchmarking and review your team’s salaries regularly to ensure they are market related, valued on their skills are fair.
- Combine pay with recognition: Pair financial rewards with public acknowledgment or growth opportunities. Recognition is lovely, but people would much rather have a bonus instead of a pizza party, which sounds mercenary but with the cost of living such as it is, people are more financially motivated than ever before.
- Focus on development: Offer training, mentoring, or new responsibilities that provide personal growth and opportunities for increases.
“Day-to-day finances were given as a main reason for 40% of Gen Zs and 38% of Millennials who feel anxious or stressed” says Deloitte, and that’s not to mention all the other generations you may be working with.
Stressed employees do not make productive employees.
Not every statistic will fit your business, but what does matter is knowing what drives your team. Ask them, listen closely, and take action. Understanding their motivations is the first step toward a more engaged and high-performing team.
How might you approach discovering what motivates each team member?
