I’d like to share one of the most challenging decisions I’ve faced as a manager in employee retention.
When one of my team members resigned, I temporarily assigned another colleague who had been working enthusiastically. This person worked so eagerly that she became a role model for team motivation, energizing the entire team. A fellow manager I worked with said, “Give this employee the highest pay increase for performance possible don’t let her go!” That moment made me pause and reflect. And I said, “No.” Because that increase might not have been the right reward for employee engagement for this person.
Sources of Motivation: Intrinsic and Extrinsic
My decision was based on a fundamental understanding: the source of employee motivation strategies. There are two primary ways to approach employee motivation in the workplace:
• Extrinsic motivation: Driven by external factors such as salary incentives, bonuses for employees, rewards programs, and promotions for career growth.
• Intrinsic motivation: Driven by internal values, the search for meaningful work, and the desire for personal growth and development.
This distinction was first introduced by Deci & Ryan in their 1985 self-determination theory. The theory states:
“If an individual is intrinsically motivated employees and finds meaning in work, mastery in tasks, and autonomy in the workplace in their work, external rewards may boost short-term employee performance but can suppress intrinsic motivation long-term in the long term.”
In other words, what we consider a reward system for employees can sometimes kill that precious internal drive for success.
Identifying the Right Source
This employee was someone who quickly acted on feedback for improvement and aimed to grow in her career development path. What she needed was a clear path for professional growth opportunities. Once I provided that space, I watched with great admiration as she flourished in her new role success.
Had I tried to motivate her solely with a top-level salary increase, she would have been happy in the short-term employee satisfaction. But over time, her motivation source for employees might have shifted. The energy to learn and grow could have been replaced by external reward expectations. In trying to motivate her, I might have unintentionally stifled her excitement for professional development and drive for personal career growth.
Critical Question: What Motivates My Employee?
Not every employee is motivated the same way. A good manager for employee engagement should invest time in answering the following questions:
• What makes my employee feel valued in the workplace?
• In what kind of work environment for productivity can they shine?
• When do they deliver their best employee performance?
For my employee, the answer was clear: She was most likely to thrive where there were appreciation in the workplace, learning opportunities for employees, and development opportunities for career growth. I immediately included her in a high-visibility project for success. I added dedicated coaching support to her employee development plan. I asked her to present her successes at a senior management meeting. She experienced the feeling of career growth recognition, being seen at work, and being recognized for achievements, which were her strongest source of intrinsic motivation in employees. External motivators couldn’t have created this sense of fulfillment in the workplace.
The Magic of Intrinsic Motivation
To explain the incredible power of intrinsic motivation benefits, let me share two similar initiatives from the 1990s. The first was a profit-driven encyclopedia project supported by a global corporation. It hired professional writers and editors and evolved with technology into CD and later internet-based encyclopedia formats.
The second was a non-profit initiative created by writers and editors who were driven not by money but by passion for meaningful work. They worked without compensation, united only by the dream of building something meaningful project collaboration.
Curious about their fate?
Due to user preferences for content, the first encyclopedia faded away by 2010. The second became the world’s largest and most popular encyclopedia: Wikipedia success story.
This example shows just how powerful intrinsic motivation in teams can be when working with a passionate team collaboration.
Intrinsic Motivation Is Long-Lasting
According to a 2019 study published in Harvard Business Review on motivation, 76% of high-performing employees reported being motivated not by money as motivation, but by doing meaningful work in organizations (Amabile & Kramer, 2011). Similarly, a Gallup study on employee engagement identified one of the top three drivers of employee engagement strategies as: “Feeling that the work I do is important.”
External motivators for employees are important and necessary to meet our needs. However, recognizing individual differences in motivation among employees and tailoring motivation strategies for teams accordingly is essential. Trying to treat every employee with the same approach is like prescribing the same medicine for every patient—it simply doesn’t work.
The Most Basic Requirement: Know Your Employee
No employee can sustain long-term employee motivation without fair compensation for work. What’s critical, however, is how, when, and why the salary is delivered effectively. If we don’t know our employees well and follow a one-size-fits-all motivation rule, we risk losing the right talent with the wrong reward system for retention.
An impactful manager for talent retention must take the time to get to know their employees.
Conclusion
It’s important to remember: An employee committed to career growth and development isn’t motivated by financial rewards alone. What they really want to hear is:
“I see and appreciate your achievements in the workplace. As your manager for employee success, I’m ready to create space for you and support your continued career success.”
The fundamental question every manager for employee motivation should reflect on is:
“How can I support my employee while preserving their intrinsic motivation strategies?” A good and impactful manager for workplace success should be able to answer this question differently for each of their employees.