As we get to the end of the beginning of 2013, motivation and engagement continues to stand out as one of the big themes for the year.

Among the headlines and blogs this week, the story which caught my eye was one which reported research into the extent to which employees are engaged with the success of their organisations.

The good news is, apparently, a majority of employees care passionately about helping their employer succeed; the bad news is that a minority of individuals say they struggle with the motivation to change the way they work and 33% of managers say they can’t motivate their teams.

While these statistics are an interesting insight into the state of play for employees, what really caught my eye was the quote in the story from Professor Nelson Phillips the chair of strategy and organisational behaviour at Imperial College London. He suggests this gap in motivation and engagement is caused by a lack of resources to support and reward their employees.

I think this is a red herring. Times may be tough and resources tight but the shortfall in motivation and engagement isn’t down money, it is down to lack of good management.

Good managers are the ones who help individuals to achieve by articulating clear goals and expected behaviour and ensuring that it is monitored. This personal attention to individual performance is the foundation of engagement.

In terms of pay and reward, my experience is that organisations who understand engagement and motivation don’t just rely on these as the sole means of keeping employees on task and aligned to business goals, they rely on managers to reward everyday through praise and thanks for a good job done.

Last of all, good managers have good leaders who help ensure employees understand how their team is contributing to business success and listen to any issues which may stop them from getting there.

Engaged employees certainly don’t come for free. It is an investment of management time, not money, which matters most. This is a resource which every organisation has and which none can afford to skimp on.

Andy Philpott is sales and marketing director at Edenred

www.edenred.co.uk