My guess is you're reading this because you want to create this on your team or you want to become this person.
Either way nothing sparks more determination in an employee than knowing the "why."
What "why" you ask?
Why they matter to the bottomline
If you want to create a dedicated employee sit them down and explain how their effort affects the bottom line. It's that simple.
So many of us go to work not knowing how our small role plays out in revenue, expense and even company bonus potentials for the entire organization. It's shocking to me how many employees are in charge of large inventory costs or sales transactions but never understand the gravity of their day to day activities.
Why they are working on a project or task
A determined employee sees his/her role as a series of projects and tasks that must be completed in order to reach the desired result of: reduced spend, reduced wait times, increased customer satisfaction and ultimately increased business to name a few. This employee understands the WHY of his tasks and will do what it takes to get the job done. When someone understands the ultimate goal they are more willing to put in extra work and feel passionate about doing so.
Bonus: This employee rarely asks to leave early because they are engrossed in the latest goal.
Why you are asking them for information
Have you ever asked someone for a data point, received said data point and then kept asking more and more questions as your thoughts formed? This is not what a determined employee does. In fact they do the opposite.
Upon being asked for the first data point the determined employee asks their boss five to seven questions around the purpose and intent of the exercise. Armed with a deeper understanding for why the information is needed, the employee comes back with a thorough analysis that brings in at least two to three more elements that the boss hadn't even thought of yet.
If you read this with the intent to motivate your team - Begin better communicating your why to your employees.
If you read this to become motivated - Start asking why if it isn't clearly communicated to you. You may find out you're more important that you first realized.