Motivation

A job is perceived differently by everyone who works no matter what level of work they do, whether it be corporate or not.  Two people who may have the same exact job title and description may not presumably enjoy what they are doing.  One of them may absolutely hate anything and everything he is doing at work, while the other one enjoys his day to day routine at work.  Just as the example stated, every time the young man asked all the workers they each had a completely different response, one said it was back breaking work, the other said it was to build a building  while the last one who was enthusiastic responded that he was building a cathedral.  Involvement and enthusiastically participating varies whether a person loves/has passion for what they do.

Let's use a CEO and a small time level employee as our example.  The CEO makes well over 6 figures, went to college, got his masters and PHd in the field of his interest, while the small time level employee just needs the job to make ends meet.  He has no level of interest in anything he does and just needs this as a quick check.  There is no way he will fully dedicate his 100 percent into work that he has no care in the world.  The CEO on the other hand, invested his time into something that he has interest in.  It can also work the opposite way as well, it truly depends on what they're receiving out of it.  There are many people that leave good paying jobs because they don't enjoy what they are doing.  How they perceive their jobs can really influence their working methods.

One way I would influence a subordinate is by setting a positive reinforcement to their behavior.  They are rewarded each time a huge task is completed well.  It can be any sort of incentive that will allow them to work better.  Now that they have a goal, they will be able to perform better as to oppose to those with nothing to work for.  Incentives can either be, money, vacation, days off, bonuses anything that the employee may need to make work more goal oriented.