What motivates people to work?  Can people be given incentives to improve performance on the job?

Rewards narrow our focus and can help motivate us in certain situations.  If the job is simple, physical these motivators can do wonders.  But for creative tasks, thought based tasks, it is a different story.

When creativity is involved – rewards, bonuses, and the like lead to poorer performance.

What motivates people at work?  You need to look at what that work is.