We all know that hiring top talent for startups is hard. In a recent post I weighed in on the debate about whether or not startups should hire workaholics. Within the comments on that post, Jeff Nolan said something very interesting (which may appear a bit out of context, but that’s OK):

…the best employees are motivated by a combination of working on something intellectually stimulating, working with smart people, and making money… in that order, based on my experience.

The rewards angle is interesting to consider, but I believe that the best employee satisfaction strategy is to constantly remove barriers that get in people’s way. Google is really good about this with their engineers, they create an environment that is as friction free as possible for people to exercise their creativity, while at the same time working in concert to execute on Google’s mission.

I definitely agree with the first point. And if you don’t offer employees something intellectually stimulating and smart people to work with, I’m not sure it matters how much you pay them … the best people won’t be motivated.

And for the most part what this really means is that it’s very difficult to motivate people.

It’s very hard to truly motivate employees. Yes, working at startups can be hugely rewarding. But ultimately, most of the motivation has to come from within.

So what about all the perks and rewards that companies offer? What’s the point?

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