Don't incentivize employees with money. They don't want it.

Did you do a double-take? While the statement is a bit facetious—your employees expect fair compensation for the work they do— pay it's not the be-all and end-all of their motivation. In fact, it's not even one of their top three motivators, according to research.

The top three motivators—culture and values, career opportunities and senior leadership— account for more than 60 percent of a worker's job satisfaction. Today and tomorrow, Promotional Consultant Today will look at these three motivators and how they influence-and are influenced by—transparency within an organization.

Transparency and Culture. There's a temptation to think of corporate culture and transparency as synonymous, whether that transparency is achieved yet or not. Consider the following statement by a fictional CEO: "Our corporate culture is one of transparency."

It probably strikes you as an empty phrase. Take a minute to look out the window. Some of you might see trees, green spaces and water, while others might see the walls of adjacent buildings. A few of you probably noticed that the window needs cleaning. While people can value transparency, in many ways transparency isn't a value at all. It's a condition.

Transparency sits in between culture and perception. You already have corporate transparency. It's simply a matter of opacity. With this model in mind, it becomes clear that an enterprise with opaque cultural transparency is likely to frustrate perceptions. Conversely, high transparency contributes to a satisfying work condition.

Traditional, hierarchy-based management is often defined by the corner office or the prime parking space, beneficial rewards and demonstrative achievements that get entrenched in the myths of corporate culture. This can make the workplace a competitive environment rather than a collaborative one, promoting a set of skills that may not be those best suited to advancing corporate objectives.

So it's easy to see that, if the fictional CEO in our example makes his or her statement, then goes back to the office and closes the door, the words are hollow.

Reducing the opaque walls of hierarchal corporate culture is not something to attempt on a whim or on a mission statement. Employees can see right through you if your leadership lacks sincerity.

Read PCT again tomorrow to learn how transparency influences both career opportunities and the success of senior leadership.

Source: Elizabeth McCormick is a speaker, author and authority on leadership. A former U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot, she is the best-selling author of, The P.I.L.O.T. Method: the 5 Elemental Truths to Leading Yourself in Life. McCormick teaches real-life, easy-to-apply strategies to boost your employees' confidence in the vision of your organization and their own leadership abilities.