Bangalore: Companies around the world are cutting back their financial-incentive programs, but few have used other ways of inspiring talent. Numerous studies have concluded that for people with satisfactory salaries, some non-financial motivators are more effective than extra cash in building long-term employee engagement in most sectors, job functions, and business contexts. Many financial rewards mainly generate short-term boosts of energy, which can have damaging unintended consequences. Indeed, the economic crisis, with its imperative to reduce costs and to balance short- and long-term performance effectively, gives business leaders a great opportunity to reassess the combination of financial and non-financial incentives that will serve their companies best through and beyond the downturn. A recent McKinsey Quarterly survey underscores the opportunity. The respondents view three non-cash motivators - praise from immediate managers, leadership attention (for example, one-on-one conversations), and a chance to lead projects or task forces - as no less or even more effective motivators than the three highest-rated financial incentives: cash bonuses, increased base pay, and stock or stock options (exhibit). The survey's top three non-financial motivators play critical roles in making employees feel that their companies value them, take their well-being seriously, and strive to create opportunities for career growth. These themes recur constantly in most studies on ways to motivate and engage employees.