employee motivation

Understanding and Applying Intrinsic and Extrinsic Employee Motivation

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Everyone has both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation when it comes to life and work.  Some employees are more driven by internal factors (intrinsic motivation), while others are more motivated by external factors (extrinsic motivation).  Everyone though has both but to different degrees depending on a variety of factors.


Last week I published a video telling the story of a young lawyer working at a large law firm and being paid very well. However, he was feeling a great deal of pressure to produce billable hours and this caused high stress. He decided to take another lawyer job where he could work normal hours with much less pressure. The job pays a considerably lower salary, but he would rather earn less money to have better work/life balance and feel happier.


Is this person motivated intrinsically or extrinsically? From my perspective his motivation is intrinsic, it is driven by having personal balance and happiness. For him that was more important than good wages.


Is it better to have employees that are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?


Intrinsically motivated employees want to perform well because they enjoy the work and the want to feel good about their own accomplishments. Extrinsically motivated employees on the contrary want to perform well to achieve external rewards or status.


Having intrinsically motivated employees is preferred because they are self-motivated and need less external stimulation. However, that does not mean you can ignore the accomplishments and performance of this type of motivated employees. Giving positive recognition and feedback, which is a form of external reward will add to their feeling of personal accomplishment and drive their internal motivation.


Extrinsic motivation can be driven by fear of punishment and that can create a negative and controlling workplace. People may perform to minimum standards just to avoid the negative outcome rather than wanting to achieve excellence on their own.


Intrinsic Motivation Factors

  1. Challenge
  2. Control
  3. Curiosity
  4. Accomplishment
  5. Competition
  6. Cooperation
  7. Recognition

Extrinsic Motivation Factors  

  1. Financial Rewards
  2. Praise and Recognition
  3. Peer Pressure
  4. Consequences and Punishment
  5. Undermining Theory

Extrinsic motivation puts more power and control in the hands of the manager and causes more autocratic style of leadership. An intrinsic motivation approach trusts that people want to perform well and are motivated to do so, thus promoting a participative style of leadership, which today is much preferred and recommended.


employee motivation

I have created a motivation worksheet that promotes intrinsic employee motivation that you can download from my website or on Eloquens.


employee performance

Employee Performance and the Rule of Thirds

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Employees can be divided into three categories related to employee performance. This is called the rule of thirds for employee performance.


One third of employees are above average performers, one third are average performers and one third are below average performers.  Of course, this is a general rule but if you go through the process of evaluating each employee using my employee performance evaluation grid worksheet, you may find this to be true.


The goal is to break the rule and move your average performers to above average and eliminate the below average employees either through training, finding a better fit for their skills or ending their employment if possible.


Above Average Performing Employees

You want to maximize the talent and skills of this group of employees and do what you can to retain them. You need to keep close contact, so you have a good sense of their job satisfaction and the type of challenge they need to stay engaged. Invest time and money in these employees as they often produce more quality work than the other two thirds combined.


Average Performing Employees

This group of employees get the work done satisfactory and are productive but have lots of room for improvement. You need to get to know them and their core talents and skills. Find out what motivates them most about the job and see where their motivation and their talents align. Create more opportunities to use their talents more fully and provide the training and support they need.


Below Average Performing Employees

These employees are either in the wrong job, have lost interest or need to be confronted about their performance. If they are in the wrong job and cannot be transferred to a new role, they need to leave. Keeping employees who do not fit or enjoy their work is not helping anyone.


If they have developed a negative attitude or resentments causing them to underperform, they need to be confronted and given clear consequences if they do not modify their behavior. Rigorous follow-up and feedback is required by the manager so they know if they are on track to keep their job.


Training and development can help with below average performing employees but first you need to find the root cause of the problem and see when training might be part of the solution.


Evaluate and Act

Download my employee performance evaluation grid worksheet now and use it to assess each employee. You will then see who falls into which category and then you can follow the recommendations above to act and move more employees into above average performers and break the rule of thirds.


Forms, templates and worksheets are available from my website or from Eloquens


employee experience

Employees Want a Good Experience at Work

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This past week I went winter camping for my birthday weekend. I wanted a new experience in the outdoors, and it was quite a thrill.


Everyone seeks a good experience from whatever they choose to do, whether at work or play. Of course, each person is responsible for creating their own experience, but in the workplace, we are not always in control of what we do.


In a recent article and video, I covered five things for leaders to do to have engaged and loyal employees. When applied, these five things also create a favourable work experience for employees.