Garnering loyalty and commitment from employees can be a challenge. It’s important to keep in mind what works, and what doesn’t.

Recently, Harvard Business Review published a series of articles about engaging employees, asking different experts to weigh in on specific angles.

Here are some of the things that have been shown to motivate people:

1. The freedom to choose when, where, and how they work.

2. The ability to perform at the highest levels, even beyond their own expectations.

3. Feeling connected to others.

4. A well-designed workspace.

5. Aspirational, but achievable, goals.

Try this helpful trick: a range of goals (“land four to six new clients”) may be more motivating than a single one (“land five new clients”).

And here are a few that have the opposite effect, demotivating people:

1. Having to pretend they're someone they're not.

2. Working for a micromanaging boss.

Unfortunately, managers who are truly good at motivating are few and far between.

This is partly because it isn't something you can learn overnight. Rather, research shows that the most engaging leaders have had early stretch experiences that shaped them and have deeply-held beliefs about what it means to be a leader.

In association with Harvard Business Review