How can companies improve motivation within a workforce?

A common problem faced by businesses is with regards to employee motivation. Unmotivated employees can have consequences on a business, such as decreased efficiency and therefore productivity. This can increase the costs that the business faces, whilst furthermore decreasing number of units produced, and therefore having the effect of compromising profitability. In order to overcome such an issue, businesses can take multiple actions. Improved communication within a company can lead to increases in motivation. A decreased chain of command can allow employees to feel a sense of inclusion within their workforce, whilst also ensuring that they have more direct, and clear instructions with regard to what is expected of them. Having such clarity and inclusion can encourage someone to achieve more highly and thus be more motivated, as there is less ambiguity in what is expected of him. This can therefore improve their efficiency, increasing productivity and therefore helping to reduce costs and increase profits. This is recognised in the social tier of Maslow's hierarchy, which recognises that people need to feel included. A sense of clarity regarding a job role can also lead to esteem and self-actualisation, both of which Maslow recognised to be key to motivation.