How can employees be encouraged to work hard?

I think companies can encourage employees by giving them clear goals with rewards tied to performance. In my design team in Shanghai, we have monthly targets where the top performers get bonuses or extra leave days. What really works is that the goals are achievable but still challenging - like improving user engagement metrics by 10%. This system pushes us to be more creative with our designs while feeling our effort is recognized. That said, it's important the targets stay realistic - if they're too high, people just get stressed instead of motivated.