A Guide To Motivating Employees

　　Walk around the office of Dixon Schwabl in Victor, New York, and you"ll see countless paper notes tacked inside the employees" cubicles. Each handwritten piece of paper from founder Lauren Dixon complimenting them on specific ways they have done a good job are a point of pride for the employees.

　　"The biggest complaint most employees have is that they don"t feel valued," Dixon says. "I write these notes every Friday and it really keeps motivation high in the office."

　　Employee motivation is a major focus for Dixon, whose integrated marketing company has more than 80 employees.

　　After she launched her firm in 1987, she quickly implemented a few cultural policies that keep office spirit high. She keeps the door to her office open, holds ice cream Thursdays on the office"s back patio and gets people together for bring-your-own-lunch Wednesdays. A functional spiral slide connects the office floors, adding to the fun office atmosphere.

　　To gather some employee motivation tips for small-business owners, I talked with Dixon and Ann Rhoades, co-founder of JetBlue Airways. Rhoades is the author of Built on Values: Creating an Enviable Culture That Outperforms the Competition.

　　Focus on Hiring

　　Dixon recommends only hiring people who exhibit a high level of self-motivation during the interview process. Zeroing in on those individuals right off the bat helps save training time later, she says.

　　Looking for a second secretary? Involve the current secretary in the hiring process, Rhoades suggests. Without you even asking, the veteran employee will take on a training role.

　　Do Little Things

　　After a recent internal survey on employee satisfaction, Dixon was shocked to learn that her employees were less excited by profit-sharing opportunities than the weekly ice cream breaks-by a 78 percent margin.

　　"Not everyone is motivated by money," she says. "Doing things that don"t cost a lot of money, that add to the overall atmosphere of the office, really matter to employees."