Motivating employees does not need to cost businesses large amounts of money.
According to research by Argos for Business, the top three motivating factors highlight how employers can inspire and encourage staff simply by communicating appreciation or developing workers' role.
It also revealed that travel and tourism was the most highly motivated industry with 50% of respondents saying they never slacked at work.
This was closely followed by the environmental services (47%) and health (45%) sectors. However, this result could also be due to a lack of opportunity for staff to take it easy.
The overall findings echoed some of the sentiment expressed by HR professionals in the annual Reed HR Salary Guide and Market Insight report.
Almost one in four (38%) said they valued job satisfaction as the most important part of their work, while only 17% said it was down to pay and benefits.
Similarly, almost half (43%) of workers who responded to the Argos for Business survey said feeling valued was their top motivator; making a difference (28%) and taking on responsibility (26%) were the second and third most effective methods.
The survey of 2,000 employees also found that a good working environment was key to employee loyalty - with 40% of staff staying in their current job because they had good relationships with their colleagues.
However, it found that around a third of employees did expect to consider other career opportunities this year.
The Top 10 most motivated sectors were:
1. Travel and Tourism (50%)
2. Environmental Services (47%)
3. Health (45%)
4. Education (41%)
5. Computing/Electronics (40%)
6. Hospitality (38%)
7. Manufacturing Industry (39%)
8. Entertainment (38%)
9. Utilities (38%)
10. Construction (37%)