It takes two to tango. These days, however, many chief executive officers worry they may be dancing alone with their employees standing idle on the sidelines. The recession has pummeled employee engagement, and poor employee morale has left CEOs feeling out of step with their workforce. What can you do to get your workers moving again? How do you capture their hearts and give them back the drive to do their very best?

1. Is your company morale in a state of emergency?

If yes, then it's time to reclaim your company-wide culture and reestablish your values. Recognition programs are a powerful way to do that. Deploying a recognition program that highlights and rewards company values helps advance your long-term mission and boosts morale.

2. Do you know what really motivates your employees?

A year-end cash bonus doesn't give an immediate sense of gratification for a job done today, and it may not address what's on an employee's mind today. It also is ineffective in fueling long-term motivation. Giving freedom to choose a meaningful reward is often a better idea.

After an employee has worked long hours to meet a tight deadline, for example, he may be motivated to spend more time with his family. Recognizing that employee with a thank you, a gift card of his choosing or even a personal day off can take you very far. Such on-the-spot recognition, done year-round, inspires ongoing motivation and high performance.

3. Do you just need to hit a quarterly target or deadline?

You're not always focused on fulfilling a larger mission or vision. Sometimes you're hard-pressed to meet a single target or deadline. That's when an incentive program can help.Note that while incentives are effective at reaching short-term goals, they don't go after overall cultural change and are typically limited to select divisions or units.

4. Are you trying to motivate your entire workforce or just your star performers?

Most of us have been taught the 80-20 customer loyalty rule, that 20% of your customers drive 80% of your revenue. But that equation doesn't work with employee engagement. There the masses matter, and they matter a lot. If you address the core of your workforce, engagement will go up across all groups. Don't just shower resources on your platinum performers or senior executives. Spread the wealth. Direct recognition programs at the middle-tier masses and you'll improve engagement company-wide.

5. Are you and your team committed to making employee engagement both an art and a science?

Employee engagement has long been seen as the soft side of managing--the artful part. That's not so today. It's much more serious than that. When your employees are disengaged, it affects their morale, your morale and your bottom line. A 15% improvement in employee engagement can mean a 2% uptick in operating margin, according to a study by Towers Perrin, the human resources company.