Trapped. It's a word workplace experts often use these days to describe what many American workers feel on the job.

They point to a number of factors behind that feeling: high unemployment, a tight labor market, and limited opportunities for advancement.

On top of that, firms are trimming benefits. The average wage increase last year was the smallest in 25 years, only 3.6 percent, according to one estimate. Some firms have frozen wages altogether.

Added together, these factors can paint a gloomy picture.

"What's happening is that people are staying in place because they don't perceive that they have any options, and they're dying in place. They're burning out. They're not growing, and they're living in fear," says Bruce Katcher, a psychologist and president of The Discovery Group, a management consulting firm in Sharon, Mass.

But nobody should feel as if they're stuck in a job, Mr. Katcher says.

In fact, human-resource experts say, both employers and workers ought to be making extra efforts to improve morale so workers don't feel trapped.

For one thing, numerous studies have shown that a high salary isn't paramount in producing job satisfaction. The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago found that employees rank salary as only the third most important factor in how much they like their jobs: The opportunity to do "important work [that] gives a feeling of accomplishment" ranks No. 1.

Last week, a survey by Right Management Consultants found that 83 percent of some 500 workers surveyed were "motivated by challenges at work."

"Things like money and promotions can do a great job of demotivating people if they're handled poorly, but actually aren't that effective in motivating people," says Nicholas Carr, executive editor of the Harvard Business Review, which published a special issue on motivating people in January.

Threats aren't good motivators either. Often, in economic downturns, "companies or managers say or imply [to employees] that they're lucky to have a job, so don't complain," says Joseph Weintraub, a management professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., and author of "The Coaching Manager." "That's not a good way to motivate.... It makes employees reluctant to step up to the plate and maybe to try new initiatives.

"When you're in a survival mode," he adds, "you think differently than when you're in a success mode."

These experts and others say that those managing people in today's tough economic times should:

Link pay and perks to performance. Although this seems obvious, "Most companies do a pretty bad job of it," says Katcher. Rewards should go to those who achieve the most, based on a fair system.

"Employers can provide continuous opportunities to learn and to grow, even without promotions," Katcher points out. "Employees like that because then they know that they have more marketable skills, so that if their job does end, they'll be able to find another one more easily."

Praise those who perform well. Managers sometimes forget to do "the simple things that cost nothing: letting [employees] know how much you appreciate what they're doing on an individual basis. That can be very motivating," Katcher says.

Take employees' own goals into account. "How do you keep your best people when you don't have a lot of resources?" Professor Weintraub asks. "One of the ways is to make sure you're talking to them, finding out what's important to them."

Keep job evaluations, such as annual performance reviews, separate from these personal-developmental discussions, he says. In these sessions, ask "What is important to you? What are some ways I can help you?"

Make pay and other decisions as equitable as possible. Employees take tough news (such as no pay increase) in stride if they understand why the action has been taken, and if they feel it is being handled fairly. "If people think they are being treated unfairly ... their motivation will evaporate completely," Mr. Carr says.

Managers need "to take the time to really explain to people the business challenges the company faces and why that's forcing some tough decisions," Carr adds. "People are smart, and they'll understand that their employer, when times are tough, has to cut back."

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