ALT-1 Money – Money
Money is appreciated more, at least at the lower levels. Most Employees only go to work so that they can pay their bills. Once people reach a level in their personal wealth that they no longer require wages to live, then recognition might become a better motivational tool, but even then large cash bonuses are what most people will want as recognition.
It's really a survival thing. We need money to survive and to thrive. The items that we want are all bought with the money that we earn. Even those that claim they're in it for the power or recognition need to make money. Take for an example a political candidate, the job that he or she is running for might not pay much, so one might say that they're in it for the recognition. But that same candidate needs money to run his or her campaign. And most likely will be making deals that involve money once he or she gets into office as well.
As the majority of the workforce is at the lower end of the income spectrum, money is much more appreciated. Even a small cash bonus at Christmas time can make that employees whole holiday. It will be something that they remember for a large portion of the year. The employer that makes an employee feel like they are valued will have a much more motivated employee. Try handing out a dollar store Christmas card next holiday season, and see how many unmotivated employees you have by the New Year. And also take note of the number of employees that employer has left by Valentine's Day.
Maybe at the very top of the income scale the employer might find employees that are looking for more recognition over money, but it'd only be because those employees are already getting enough money for the other things that they want in life. Once the wealth has already been taken care of then one might be motivated by recognition. An example would be a child in school, money isn't needed by the child as those things are taken care of by the parent, a gold star, or a job well done may motivate the child to keep doing his or her best.
I know for myself, I rather have a raise for doing the job well, or a big cash bonus for making the sale, than a pat on the back. I'd be more likely to keep up the good work. Even if I were rich, I think money would continue to motivate me. That would be how the rich got rich in the first place, and probably why they keep getting richer. The amount of money required to motivate just gets larger.
Some say money is the root of all evil, others say it's what makes the world go round, but like it or not, you can't survive without it.
