If there is one thing that makes or breaks a business, its employee motivation. Of course, a good product is important, you need a good idea and the tools to understand both. But if your employees aren't able or want to handle the workload you expect of them, it won't matter much. You want your workers to be content, inspired and energetic. Now, its enough just to give them a regular salary nowadays. Namely, regular incentives give you regular results. If you want something more, something greater, something exceptional, and then you need to motivate them exceptionally. So, without further ado, below you can find some tips on how to do just that. Make the office pleasant First of all, make the working environment one in which people want to work. Remember that there will be eight hours your people spend here every day of work. It will improve your moods and raise your happiness levels to make these 8 hours comfortable and pleasant. Hold your place smooth and airy. Get as much natural light as possible, and the artificial light that you have should be effective and workable. Proper office lighting can do wonders for inspiration and the overall feeling in the workplace. Furthermore, nurture a positive environment, keep things optimistic. Be inclusive, celebrate diversity, and do what you can to let everyone feel welcome. Help people release some steam Of course, working at an office, or any professional environment has its own drawbacks. It can be very stressful, very tiresome. For this reason, we suggest you help your people blow off some steam. One of the things you can try is getting professional corporate entertainment and organize an office party, or a conference. Sending people on pleasant locations o the company dime for the purpose of visiting a seminar and networking is also getting two birds with one stone. Or, if thats outside the budget or simply impossible to do, maybe a monthly team-building exercise or outing? Or maybe getting a pool table and a good coffee machine will be enough. Let people know they matter You need to show your people that you care and that they actually matter in the company. Nobody likes being perceived as a cog, nobody likes being one. People thinking that their contribution to the company is meaningless are on a pretty quick road to ennui. Let people know that they matter, that they actually contribute to the company, or to the team. Nurture talent If there is one thing that matters in todays corporate environment is staying competitive. One of the best ways you can do just that is through having your people trained properly, and regularly. Get people training, send them to seminars, buy books and manuals, get the most out of them, and help them be better. By doing this, you are getting better employees, with better skills and talents. However, you also get people who see you are investing time and money into them. You get people who are loyal, who will gladly stick by you when push comes to shove. Show that you care You want to reward people for any and all contributions. You can do this by either praising them in public or by actually giving monetary rewards. Never leave any excess work unrewarded, always show your appreciation for people who go above and beyond. Tickets to a show, a nice trip, and things of this nature mean a great deal, they can motivate people to do some extra work. Think of how you speak to people Rethink how you speak to people, watch your tone and your body language. People need to know they can come to you for help, that they can trust you. An employee deathly afraid of making a mistake will invariably either make one due to being nervous or will simply not contribute as much as he or she could. Furthermore, the fear of making a mistake is death to creativity and lateral thought. Conclusion And there you have it folks, a couple of ways you can motivate your people to go above and beyond. If you want exceptional results, you need to give people reason to give you results. Nobody wants to break his back for no reason whatsoever, there is a limit to intrinsic motivation. So, keep them happy, motivate them. Speak to them like regular people, not as their superior. Finance some fun and some trips, keep the environment clean, well maintained, and nicely decorated. Show that you care when they go above and beyond through bonuses, and just, in general, congratulate them on work well done.