Encourage collaboration and teamwork with a recognition program that is effective and enjoyable!
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Boost team performance with strategies that enhance motivation and engagement to build driving, committed, and successful teams.
In today’s dynamic workplace, building a high-performing team requires more than simply assembling talented individuals. The real differentiator lies in the synergy between motivation—the internal drive to achieve—and engagement—the emotional commitment to one’s work and team. When both are present, teams become more productive, innovative, and resilient. The following strategies can help leaders foster both motivation and engagement for stronger results.
Motivation is the “why” behind action. It reflects the internal or external forces that drive individuals to pursue goals, whether through personal satisfaction, ambition, or external rewards.
Engagement is the “how” of involvement. It refers to the emotional commitment, dedication, and passion employees feel toward their work, team, and organization.
While motivation initiates action, engagement sustains it. Teams that possess both qualities tend to be proactive, collaborative, and consistent in delivering high-quality results.
Studies repeatedly show that teams high in both motivation and engagement outperform others across key metrics such as productivity, innovation, retention, and customer satisfaction. According to Gallup, highly engaged teams are 21% more profitable and experience significantly less turnover and absenteeism. Motivation drives output; engagement deepens commitment and creativity.
Before leaders can improve team performance, it is important to understand where the team currently stands. Diagnosing the levels of motivation and engagement within your group helps target the right strategies and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Teams may fall into one of four categories, each requiring a different leadership response.
Team members consistently meet targets and produce results but display limited enthusiasm or collaboration. They tend to work in silos, show minimal initiative outside of their core responsibilities, and may be at high risk of burnout due to lack of emotional connection to the work.
The team enjoys a supportive atmosphere and strong interpersonal bonds, but there is a lack of energy, drive, or innovation. While the environment feels positive, performance is often average, and there may be little forward momentum or ambition.
This is the ideal state. The team is energized, collaborative, and goal-oriented. Members are aligned with the mission, take initiative, support one another, and consistently deliver high-quality results.
When both elements are missing, the team struggles with low morale, underperformance, and high turnover. Tasks are completed with minimal effort, innovation is rare, and employee disengagement can affect others and spread quickly.
Effective diagnosis begins with listening and observation. Use the following tools and practices to evaluate both motivation and engagement:
Understanding whether your team is motivated, engaged, both, or neither is the first step toward meaningful improvement. With regular assessment and attention to both drive and emotional commitment, leaders can move their teams toward becoming more aligned, energized, and high-performing.
Track key indicators such as engagement survey results, retention data, performance metrics, and direct feedback. Conduct regular pulse checks to evaluate progress and refine your approach. Recognize that motivation and engagement require continuous attention and adjustment.
Motivation and engagement are the driving forces behind high-performing teams. By actively cultivating both, leaders create environments where individuals are empowered, connected, and inspired to do their best work. Begin with small, consistent steps—and watch your team evolve and thrive.
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Motivation is the drive that pushes individuals to act, while engagement is the emotional connection that makes people care about their work. A team needs both to sustain high levels of performance and morale.
Leaders can increase motivation by setting clear goals, giving autonomy, recognizing contributions, and connecting daily work to a meaningful purpose. These efforts help individuals see value in their efforts and take ownership of their success.
Effective engagement starts with strong communication, trust, and alignment between individual strengths and job responsibilities. Promoting collaboration and showing the impact of each team member’s work also strengthens emotional commitment.
Focusing on both leads to better outcomes in productivity, innovation, and employee retention. Teams that are motivated and engaged tend to exceed goals while maintaining a healthy and sustainable work culture.
Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.
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Yes, at Assembly, security is a top priority. Each quarter, we have ongoing security work that is everyone’s responsibility. While we maintain a strong security posture, it was important for us to prove to our customers that we do everything we claim to do. This led us to pursue a SOC 2 Type II report that would provide evidence of our compliance with industry gold-standard security practice.
There is study after study showing that employee recognition leads to increased engagement. This in return creates an environment where employees are happier and more motivated which increase productivity and reduces voluntary turnover significantly. In order to filled critical roles, companies tend to spend nearly twice the value of an annual salary. Assembly is an investment in your employees that supports your bottom line.
Yes, we will offer contracts for companies with longer-term agreements to help larger customers have more certainty around future costs.
The minimum agreement term is a 12-month subscription.
We do and for FREE! Any new customer needing further support to get started with Assembly to ensure you're set up for success can request custom onboarding support. Improving your employee experience is about much more than just using our amazing software; it’s about transforming your business to create a workplace that people love. That’s much easier to do with the personal support and advice from our passionate people experts.
At the time of redemption (when your employees exchange their points for a paid reward) you'll pay face value. If a reward is a $10 Amazon gift card, your cost will be $10. All paid rewards are billed for on a monthly basis.
The good news is that you don't have to pay for rewards upfront because we only charge you when points are redeemed, not when they're earned.
We offer discounts or educational or charitable organizations. In order to secure a discount, you'll first need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
For all other organizations, we are willing to consider longer-term agreements in exchange for discounts. To set up annual plans or longer, you will need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a month to month plan, you can go here and cancel anytime. If you're having concerns or need help setting up your account for success, you can always book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a longer-term custom plan, you'll need to reach out to your customer support specialist to cancel your account or email us at support@joinassembly.com.
Great question! You can customize your core values to match your organization's to boost and track alignment. You can change your currency from the 🏆 emoji (our default) to any emoji of your choice. You can swap our logo for your own. You can also set up company culture rewards such as, "Lunch with the CEO," "Buy a book on us," and so much more!
While we recommend a peer to peer set up where anyone in your organization can give or receive recognition, you can set up Assembly however you want. If you need to limit the people who can give or receive recognition, that's perfectly fine and can be done from your Admin, here.
Assembly connects to the tools your employees use every day to offer an easy, seamless experience with minimal change management.
Assembly has integrations with HCM/HRIS systems like ADP, Google, Office 365, and Slack. We also integrate with communication tools like Slack and Teams so you and your employees can access Assembly wherever they work now.
That depends on the company's permissions set up. That said, over 90% of the employees on Assembly's platform are recognized on a monthly basis. That means nearly every employee across all of our customers are receiving regular recognition from their peers, managers, or leadership. We're extremely proud of this.
They are not required. You can use Assembly without having rewards set up. However, we don't recommend it if you intend to have a high adoption and usage rate. You can always keep the costs down by offering internal culture rewards that are fulfilled by you internally.
No, you can remove allowances from anyone or everyone. It's up to you but we do recommend using points whether they're worth a real dollar value or not. Companies that use points have a much higher engagement rate even if those points don't exchange for real dollars.
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