The aim of this study was to provide a wider knowledge in how to motivate the personnel to work with continuous improvements. We have studied how to motivate employees to continues improvement work through qualitative semi-structured personal- and couple interviews. We have through the survey been able to draw conclusions about how to motivate employees to improwement works.

Continuous improvement work has become even more important in the daily work at many companies. In order to e.g. gain and maintain competitiveness one need to intensify the operation and create a new way of thinking within the organisation. Continues improvements can therefore be explained as changing the way of thinking and working. In order to change the operation motivated personnel that can participate in the improvement work is needed. Motivation describes how engaged someone is to get something about. There are many factors that pushes and motivates a person to work for a specific goal and these need to be known in order to be able to gain motivation.

The assigner of this thesis was the transport company Ahola Transport. Ahola Transport is a transport company that performs road transports for the industry and trade inside the Nordic countries and Europe. At Ahola Transport they are working with contiuous improvements and therefore is a study in how to motivate personnel of high relevance.

We have in this thesis used a qualitative survey method because we felt that we in that way would have a chance to gain information that we wouldn´t if we had used a quantitative survey. Our survey consist of interviews with tvelwe respondents from eight different companies that work with continuous improvements.

The management are responsible for keeping the employees motivated. The most important is to give the employees responsibility and authority, to let them be involved, and reward either through praise of some other form of reward. The point is that they are seen and receive a thank you for the work they have done. Because the management is controlling the improvement work, but the emplyees are carrying out the practical improvement work , we feel that regular information and discussion opportunities are very important.