Motivation Makes the World Go 'round

Most people won't do anything if there's no positive result in the end. Usually people think about how important their input is related to the amount of output they receive (amount of work to amount of praise/pay, amount of exercise  to the amount of calories burned, time put into homework compared to the grade recieved, etc).
The following table is something Microsoft uses when looking at how their employees are motivated and their level  of proficiency.

Level 1: Basic	Level 2: Intermediate	Level 3: Advanced	Level 4: Expert
Maintains a climate in which people want to do their best	Creates and maintains a climate in which people want to do their best	Empowers others and energizes them to do and to be their best	Inspires and motivates whole organizations with ample positive energy
Is aware of each person’s strengths, but does not consistently use this knowledge to motivate his or her actions	Assesses each person’s strengths, and uses them to get the best out of him or her	Looks for positive attributes, and concretely reinforces them, promoting confidence and optimistic attitudes	Recognizes each person’s strengths, development needs, and professional goals, and inspires them to succeed
Makes individuals feel his or her work is important; is someone people like working for and with	Invites input from each person, and shares ownership and visibility	Designs and provides incentives to encourage widespread participation and regularly incorporates stress-busters to minimize pressure points	Appropriately rewards and acclaims individuals, groups, and organizations for stellar achievements
Able to motivate a limited range of individuals within the organization	Able to motivate a wide range of individuals, including direct reports, team members, and project members	Successfully motivates people and organizational units	Successfully motivates the entire organization

In today's business programs in college across the United States, students are learning the importance of teams. We hear it over and over again, the importance of teams and leadership within  business in almost any position or situation. Microsoft heads do a great job of motivating their employers, but something you may not consider is the motivation between employees and their peers.
Microsoft believes in such a thing as over motivating. Employees should be encouraged by motivation and incentives, but a person would also want their employees to have their own intrinsic motivation that makes them want to do well for themselves and the company without a physical reward or getting praised. Also, putting a large emphasis on individual motivation can get in the way of group success at times. For this reason,  when hiring employees, Microsoft looks into not only how the person is motivated, but how they motivate others. Some questions and interviewer may ask are things like, "Describe a time you tried motivating someone and it didn't work. How did you fix this?" Motivation is important in a company from the top to the very bottom and at every stop along the way.