The people you want to hire do not need motivating. They're mature adults and probably have the energy level they'll have for the rest of your relationship.

So, it's not about motivating. It's about alignment of goals.

Most of us have wondered many times; is this a job for the carrot or the stick? Let's see…the carrot or the stick?

The fact is that smart people don't respond -- on a long-term basis -- to either the carrot or the stick.

If the relationship is a simple, "You give me "x", and I'll give you "x" reward," it won't be long before someone is scamming your process.

Conversely, if you threaten smart people with the stick, they'll find another place to work.

The key is to find out what they want to do. Deep down, when they're honest with themselves – what do they really want to do? Once they determine that and communicate it, you can see if it's aligned with the company's needs. If you don't have common ground then just be honest with each other – life is too short to pretend otherwise.

However, once you find their passion and know that helping them get to where they want to go will also work for the company, then you're on solid common ground.

So, OK, Joe, you've changed the rhetoric from "motivation" to "alignment". Now what?

Once you have goals, you build the process around those goals. At The Phelps Group, we have an annual process that starts with a 360 review by at least six of the associate's coworkers. The associate can then fold that feedback into her/his individual performance objectives (IPO), which state what they'll do in terms of the quality of client work, the generation of revenue for the agency and the agency's environment. Our associates are encouraged to meet with the coach in their discipline or their team leader once a month in a 1-2-1 and review their progress toward their goals. The coach or team leader is not there to judge, but rather to "hold a mirror up" for the person requesting the 1-2-1. A critical exercise in this meeting is to identify the obstacles preventing progress and then work on ways to eliminate them.

This process, when followed diligently, help the individual create and hone their goals. It'll reveal and remind them of their progress. And it'll clear the path for more achievement. The result is higher self-esteem, raised confidence, greater productivity and a more transparent relationship between them and the company.

The essence of the thinking here is, find out where an associate wants to go and then help them hold themselves accountable to their own goals.