If you want your employees to perform better, a little motivation goes a long way. A paycheck may be what gets your employees to their desks each morning, but it doesn’t necessarily make them work harder. Let’s face it, your employees can get a paycheck elsewhere; what they really want is to feel like an essential part of a team at a company that has a great culture.

Five Simple Ways to Motivate Your Employees

1. Thank your employees for their hard work

A simple thank you is a highly-effective method to motivate employees. Unfortunately, many employees don’t hear “thank you” that often. According to Gallup, the main reason employees leave is a lack of recognition.

Employee recognition comes in many forms. Simply saying “thanks” is a great place to start. Also, consider recognizing an employee in front of the entire team by giving out a weekly or monthly employee award and rotate it among the staff. Employee recognition can also be given to the entire team, especially if they just pulled off a big project or had a great quarter. Recognize their success by bringing in breakfast or lunch for the entire staff as a treat.

2. Offer flexible work hours for a better work/life balance

Think about it, your employees likely spend more time with their co-workers than they do with their families, and juggling home and work life can be a challenge. Your employees want your help to balance it all. In fact, 87% of employees can expect their employer to support them in balancing their work and personal commitments. Motivate them by providing alternative work schedules with flexible starting and ending times, telecommuting options, job sharing and maybe even four-day workweeks. A great work/life balance makes employees happier and in turn, stick around longer.

3. Encourage your employees to take a vacation

Here’s a scary fact: 13% of American workers don’t take any time off and only 36% plan to use all their paid time off. Motivating employees is as simple as encouraging them to take a well-deserved break. Vacations allow your employees to relax and recharge, so they come back to work refreshed. For your part, set the expectation that all employees deserve time away from work, coordinate vacations among team members to make it easy to cover the work and give employees time to ease back into their daily routines.

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4. Keep the lines of communication open

Listening to employees is a great way to motivate them. According to Forbes, employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work. Communicating with your employees helps build trust and makes your employees feel connected, setting up plans for future success. Frequent performance reviews provide the opportunity for employee input and to ask what they need from their manager to achieve their goals.

5. Provide opportunities to learn on the job

It’s been shown that development is crucial to retention. In fact, businesses with a strong learning culture enjoy employee engagement and retention rates around 30-50% higher than those that don’t. Learning on the job motivates employees to perform at their highest level. These opportunities range from providing additional training through online courses or conferences, to giving employees more responsibilities, asking them to do special projects or encouraging them to join professional groups and associations.

BirdDogHR, an Arcoro Company, provides both Performance Management and Learning Management solutions, to help HR and managers motivate their employees. Performance Management software software has tools for feedback, motivation and drives career development. The Learning Management system motivates your workforce by providing employees with a clear career path. Both systems easily integrate with the rest of your CoreHR solutions.