Leeatt Rothschild is the founder and CEO of Packed with Purpose, where business gifts make a lasting impression because they give back.
As business owners, the new year is an opportunity to consciously take past lessons and use them as a guide to help our teams succeed. While employee engagement has slipped to pre-pandemic levels—a Culture Amp report shows global employee engagement is down to 71%—a new year can be a chance to strategically address that issue by better motivating our employees.
Of course, motivation is deeply personal. What makes you tick isn’t what makes Donna in marketing tick. Though there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to motivation, I think there is a scalable way for any business to better understand the unique individuals they rely on, and use that intelligence to craft powerful motivation strategies.
Want to build a workplace that truly feels inspired and motivated in 2025? I urge you to go beyond surface-level people data and build processes that will help you deeply understand the people at the heart of your business. No matter the size of your business, the right processes can help you motivate your team one person at a time.
Personalize Your Employee Data Collection
As business leaders, we need to rethink our method of data collection. We want to understand the individuals driving our company’s success, and I believe the only way to do that is by seeking opportunities to learn more about who they are. On its face, this feels like something only a tiny company can accomplish, but even giant corporations can scale their employee learning with the right processes.
Take my company’s onboarding process as an example. I’m the founder and CEO of a corporate gifting company, and we’re very intentional about embedding personalization into our onboarding process. When someone joins, we send them a survey asking a mix of fun questions like, “What’s your favorite treat?” or “Do you love spicy snacks or have a sweet tooth?” along with serious questions like, “What tools and resources do you need to succeed in your role?”
We also ask questions like, “How do you like to be recognized?” Responses to these specific questions not only help us tailor everything from birthday celebrations to work acknowledgments, but the personalized questions are also more likely to elicit a genuine response than what you would get from a generic question about somebody’s work experience or goals.
Beyond Onboarding: Building Continuous Connections
The onboarding phase is a great starting point, but it shouldn’t stop there. Incorporate at least two more intentional touchpoints throughout the year to gather updates and check in on evolving preferences and needs. These touchpoints can be as simple as quarterly conversations where managers ask open-ended questions like, “What motivates you at work right now?” or “What single change would allow you to do your role better?” Your AI notetaker can also be a handy resource. Since most meetings inevitably start with casual banter—”What did you do this weekend?” or “What are your plans for the holidays?”—you can use your notetaker to gather and organize personal details that can help you better understand what matters to your colleagues.
For larger organizations, scalability might feel like a challenge, but it’s entirely possible with the right systems. Managers—whether they oversee five people or fifty—can use tools like centralized employee profiles to store and reference this data. Leaders at every level play a role in making employees feel valued, which is why organizing the insights you’ve collected is paramount. The key is prioritizing meaningful questions, arming those closest to employees with the insights they need to foster connection, and ensuring every leader can use that information to deliver personalized rewards.
Ultimately, the goal of data collection is to gain a deeper understanding of who your employees are beyond their jobs—to help them best succeed individually and within the broader organization.
Supporting Better Employee Recognition
How can we use personalized information to create more effective employee motivation strategies at scale? A recent Gallup study shows that employees most value authentic and individualized recognition. Similarly, pride in one’s work was cited as the top employee motivator (46%) in The Business Motivation Report by Forty1. As business leaders, we excel at capturing customer preferences in CRMs to show we care. Applying this principle to employees allows us to deliver meaningful appreciation while reinforcing their sense of pride and accomplishment.
The who and how of recognition matter just as much as the gesture itself. Gallup found that recognition from direct managers or C-Suite leaders leaves the strongest impression, yet 28% of employees never receive recognition from the CEO, according to Nectar HR. Pairing consistent, personalized gestures—like a thoughtful thank-you card from the CEO or a favorite treat from a manager—with periodic recognition can foster a culture of appreciation.
Tailored recognition doesn’t have to be costly or elaborate. It simply requires thoughtful use of personalized information to express gratitude that resonates. Whether it’s celebrating milestones or acknowledging achievements, leveraging these insights to make employees feel valued can drive motivation and productivity across the organization.
The Future Of Motivation Is Personal
Employees want to feel valued, understood and connected. The companies that succeed will rise to this challenge by being more intentional about deeply understanding their people, crafting thoughtful recognition strategies, and helping employees see their role in the bigger picture.
This isn’t just about improving productivity; it’s about fostering a culture where people feel they truly belong. And when people feel valued, their potential is limitless.
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