The Big Picture of Employee Motivation and The Value of an Engaged Workforce

Understanding core principles of motivating employees is the foundation all managers need to know. Here's a few nuggets you'll get:

• 71% of employees say they are not motivated - here's how much these disengaged employees cost in terms of mistakes, lost opportunities and outright failures. (pg 14-15)
• The two types motivation - understanding intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. (pg 9-10)
• Why an over-reliance on external motivators leads to short-term gain and brutal long-term impact. (pg 11)
• 4 myths of motivation debunked (pg 13-14)

Success Plan: 9-Step ResourcefulManager Motivation Framework

When you read this section you'll get step-by-step guidance for the 9 key elements of employee motivation. Here's a sample of what you'll find inside:

• 10 interview questions that help you uncover self-motivated people – and the types of responses you should look for during the hiring process (pg 23-26)
• Why a candidate's motivation to "GET the job" can obscure your ability to see if they will be motivated to "DO the job" - and how to avoid it (pg 22-23)
• How employee motivation and job expectations are connected – and how to uncover if your employees are confused about their role (pg 27-30)
• What real workplace fun consists of - and why it's necessary if you want your employees excited to come to work every day (pg 31-32)
• 5 inexpensive teambuilding activities that boost morale (pg 32-34)
• 6 ways to spot employees who are intrinsically motivated vs. those who are just in it for the paycheck (pg 35-38)
• Using empowerment to motivate – and why micro-managing actually gets you minimal effort from employees (pg 39)
• 7 simple keys to building an environment of trust (pg 42-43)
• Why 42% of employees are actively looking for a new job – and why one word goes a long way towards rectifying this (pg 44-46)
• What it takes to be a motivational manager – 16 dos and don'ts (pg 47-52)
• 6 keys to avoid short-term bursts of motivation and sustain it over the long haul (pg 53-56)
• Why regular rewards lose their value over time and the smarter approach to rewarding employees that won't get stale (pg 54)

Putting The Motivation Framework Into Practice

• How to motivate across the four generations of employees (pg 59-61)
• The valuable "know-it-all" - is there any motivating them? (see how on pg 62-63)
• Motivating in challenging situations - budget cuts, layoffs and change (pg 63-65)
• 5 signs of employee entitlement - how to prevent it or root it out if it already exists (pg 66-68)
• The difference between a bad hire and a bad fit (pg 68-70)
• When to cut bait if motivational efforts simply aren't working (pg 70)

Stumbling Blocks: The Top 20 Killers of Employee Motivation

By the time you get to this section you'll have a framework for motivating all types of employees - and how to put it into practice at your company. But you also need to watch out for these, and many other, stumbling blocks included in this Blueprint:

• Why you must get past this internal bias to truly motivate your team #2 on pg 72)
• Pay matters, but not as much as you think – study suggests 25% of highly motivated employees would jump ship for this % pay increase #16 on pg 75)
• Resist this common urge when it comes to achieving goals (#19 on pg 76)
• Avoid this oversight that makes you look like a selfish, ego-driven manager that all employees hate (if you're deliberately doing this you're a flat out terrible manager) - #11 on pg 74
• The two things almost every manager skimps on that every employee craves (#13 & #17 on pg 75-76)