On one of my Navy leadership courses the reservist instructor said the most positive and motivating piece of recognition he got was his boss buying him a thank

On one of my Navy leadership courses the reservist instructor said the most positive and motivating piece of recognition he got was his boss buying him a thank you card and quietly putting it on his desk when he was busy. If you know your people you should be able to work out what motivates them and come up with something specific. Whatever it is a chunk of money is a very poor motivator as it becomes expected and thus devalued very quickly.