In the 1960's, Frederick Herzberg told us that money is a lousy motivator. I have to disagree with this theory, based on the reasons people get jobs and my own personal working experience. There are many reasons people do get jobs, but most of the main reasons still stem back to money, whether is health insurance, free services through the employer, or the actual pay itself. There may be other types of motivators as well, but the main reason that person went to get a job in the first place is usually to have money to support their family and/ or their needs.
When someone decides to get a job, usually the main reason they decide to do so is because they need money to support themselves. A company that offers a higher pay or more monetary benefits is going to be more desirable than a similar job offering less pay for the same type of work. Although a small fraction of workers like highschoolers and retirees may be motivated by other items like a sense of purpose or the chance to get work experience, they still are there for monetary reasons at the same time.
Many companies these days offer different types of monetary incentives, such as commissions, bonuses, and different types of incentives. At Time Warner Cable, we will run different incentives at different times of the year to offer prizes to the top sellers or best improved sales numbers to motivate. In the summer they may offer tickets to baseball games or water parks, while in the wintertime offer lift passes to ski resorts and plane tickets to take trips to warmer weather. While these aren't specifically money, they are considered a type of cash motivator to our employees. During these incentives, some workers that would normally only work 40 hours a week will put in a couple additional days of work throughout the week or month to try and up their chances of winning these incentives.
Some motivators, though, are not limited to certain times of the