Whether your team is still sluggish from the holidays, or worn out from the pressures of a fiscal year-end, it can be a challenge to get employees revved up for a new year. Taking the time to motivate workers can have a positive effect on your bottom line: if employees work hard, the company will do well.

Lay Out Your Vision
According to David Shedd, writing for "Entrepreneur," employee engagement with the company's vision is key to motivation. Start the New Year with a restatement of that vision as well as a review of how the previous year's accomplishments helped the company to achieve its goals. Blinds.com CEO Jay Steinfeld points out that although profit is the goal of any company, that is not a motivating factor; vision is better phrased in terms of solving customer problems and improving their lives.

Lay Out a Work Plan for Each Employee
Investing in employees, by providing skills training to help them develop personally and professionally within the company, is another way to foster employee commitment. Start the year by giving each employee a purpose and encouraging him to develop a goal within the company. Include specific training opportunities for each employee. Do this without micromanaging; as much as training is a motivating factor, a lack of employee autonomy is a discouragement.

Offer Incentives
Rewards for exceeding targets or meeting project objectives are a tried and true method of motivation. Start off the new year by introducing new incentives for good work, including retail gift cards, event tickets or paid days off. Give employees a heads up the incentives will be offered on a regular basis. To kick off the year, hold an entertaining mini-contest in the first week; give a gift basket to the person judged to have the most organized desk, for example, based on employee vote.

Make the Workplace Enjoyable
A positive workplace culture adds to employee productivity. Begin the year with team-building; recruit staff for sporting leagues and ask for volunteers to sit on an activities committee. A more relaxed work environment gives employees more energy and motivation to tackle challenging projects. Give employees the opportunity to bring an element of their personality into the workplace to make the most of what they can offer.

Demonstrate Good Management
Vision is a motivating factor for employees, as is confidence in management's ability to fulfill that vision. Develop trust among your employees by getting to know them as individuals, listening to their ideas and putting those ideas into action. Start your year with measurable targets and meet those targets, so your employees will continue to put faith in your leadership.