November 27th, 2024 – SkillCycle
Imagine your team showing up to work ready to dig in, make a difference, and deliver on your company goals. That is what intrinsic motivation looks like in practice: people driven by interest, purpose, and growth rather than just paychecks or pressure. Most leaders dream of this kind of energy, but building intrinsic motivation in a company does not happen overnight.
A disconnect between how organizations and employees view and experience purpose at work could be to blame. Many leaders talk about meaning and impact, but employees do not always see how that connects to their day-to-day reality. Over 40% of employees report a lack of communication about purpose, while 32% say there is a lack of support for living out individual purpose, and 28% say purpose is inadequately connected to the performance management process at work, according to McKinsey. These gaps make it harder to turn the theory of intrinsic motivation definition (doing something because it is rewarding in itself) into real behaviour on the job.
“There’s no silver bullet answer,” says Andrew Hibschman, VP of Customer Success with SkillCycle. “However, a critical first step is recognizing that the barrier between personal and professional growth doesn’t exist.” That mindset shift is what you see in companies using intrinsic motivation well: they treat career development, coaching, and meaningful work as everyday practices, not just HR slogans. Over time, this creates real, visible examples of intrinsic motivation in an organization – employees who go the extra mile because they genuinely care about the work and the people it affects.
At its core, intrinsic motivation is the internal drive to do something because it feels rewarding in itself. People act out of interest, satisfaction, enjoyment, or curiosity, not because someone is watching or because there is a bonus at the end. A simple intrinsic motivation definition is: doing the work because you want to, not because you have to.
This kind of motivation is different from working only for rewards, fear of punishment, or external pressure. When you focus only on targets, incentives, and consequences, you may get short-term compliance, but you rarely get creativity, resilience, or genuine ownership. Intrinsic motivation in a company is what keeps people learning, problem-solving, and pushing through challenges even when things are hard.
Here is a quick comparison:
Intrinsic Motivation at Work | Extrinsic Motivation at Work | |
Main driver | Interest, purpose, growth, curiosity | Rewards, penalties, status, approval |
Typical mindset | “I care about this work and want to do it well.” | “I’ll do this to get a bonus / avoid a bad review.” |
Examples | Volunteering for a stretch project, mentoring a colleague, suggesting improvements without being asked | Working late only to hit a bonus target, following a process only because it’s required |
Energy over time | More sustainable, self-renewing | Often short-term, can drop when rewards are removed |
Impact on culture | Builds engagement, trust, innovation | Can create pressure, competition, or box-ticking behaviour |
When you see examples of intrinsic motivation in an organization – like employees taking initiative, sharing ideas, or staying curious about new skills – you are also seeing the building blocks of strong engagement.
For companies using intrinsic motivation intentionally, the benefits show up in higher performance, better retention, and greater resilience during change. People are more likely to stay when they feel their work matters, they are growing, and they are trusted. That is why building intrinsic motivation in a company is not just a “nice to have”; it is a practical strategy for a healthier, more productive workplace.
If you want more than surface-level engagement, you have to design work in a way that naturally supports intrinsic motivation. It is not about adding more perks; it is about creating conditions where people genuinely want to give their best. Here are some of the core drivers you see in companies using intrinsic motivation well.
Autonomy is the sense of control over how work gets done. When people have room to make decisions, organize their day, and choose how to solve problems, they are far more likely to feel internally driven.
In practice, that might look like flexible workflows, input into goals, or freedom to experiment with new approaches. These are everyday examples of intrinsic motivation in an organization: someone redesigns a process because they believe there is a better way, not because they were told to do it.
Purpose answers the question, “Why does this work matter?” When employees can clearly connect their tasks to a bigger impact, intrinsic motivation in a company becomes much easier to spark and sustain.
Leaders help by telling real stories about who benefits from the work, sharing customer outcomes, and tying individual roles to the organization’s mission. Purpose turns routine tasks into meaningful contributions.
People are naturally motivated when they feel they are getting better at something. Mastery is about progress, not perfection: building skills, taking on new responsibilities, and seeing your own growth over time.
Organizations can support this by offering stretch projects, learning paths, coaching, and feedback that is actually useful. In companies using intrinsic motivation, development is treated as part of the job, not a bonus activity when things are quiet.
Work needs to be challenging enough to be interesting, but not so overwhelming that it leads to burnout. Meaningful challenge sits in that middle zone: problems that require focus, creativity, and collaboration.
When employees are trusted with real responsibility and supported with the resources to succeed, they often surprise you with what they deliver. Those moments are powerful examples of intrinsic motivation in an organization – people pushing themselves because the work feels worth the effort.
Even highly motivated people struggle in an environment where they feel alone or undervalued. Supportive relationships with managers and colleagues are a major part of any practical intrinsic motivation at work.
That means managers who listen, give honest feedback, and remove obstacles; peers who share knowledge instead of hoarding it; and teams where it is safe to ask questions or admit mistakes. When relationships are strong, people are more willing to take initiative, try new things, and stay committed through tough periods.
Put together, these drivers create the conditions for intrinsic motivation in a company: autonomy, purpose, growth, challenge, and human support. You cannot force motivation, but you can build an environment where it has room to grow.
How can leaders influence the motivation levels of their employees? By building a culture that recognizes their value as humans and as employees of the company and supports both. When employees feel company leadership is willing to invest in their personal and professional development, they can develop a sense of purpose that fuels performance in powerful ways.
“When there is alignment between personal and professional growth, employees get the sense that their company sees them as someone worth nurturing and that their personal growth and how they develop in their career trajectory benefit the company as well,” says Hibschman.
Employees contribute to the company by contributing to their own growth and development. Leaders must understand the overlapping nature of these two truths, then must weave support for both into how employees work, learn, and grow with the company.
Once a company connects the personal development of its employees to positive outcomes across the organization, it becomes easier to make investments in employee growth. Aligning company and employee goals is a significant driver of performance.
Retention is one major benefit of nurturing motivation within your teams. Improving the connection employees feel with the mission or purpose of their organization leads to an 8.1% decrease in turnover and a 4.4% increase in profitability, according to Gallup.
“Intrinsically motivated, purpose-aligned employees stay at a company, full stop,” says Hibschman.
Keeping people from leaving your company is a good thing. But consider for a moment the caliber of the people you’ll be keeping. Investing in people develops employees who will grow, innovate, and potentially lead your company someday.
“Employees who are driven by intrinsic motivation need less hand-holding and guidance,” says Hibschman. “They have a clear sense of direction and are more willing to pursue independently led projects or to reach solutions on their own.”
Empowered employees are better equipped for higher performance. Let’s compare two examples of building a sense of purpose at work and the results they might inspire.
For example, imagine someone in sales receiving feedback that focuses simply on business outcomes. You tell them to increase their sales numbers by 10% by the end of the next quarter. What would that employee take away from the conversation to improve their performance? The message is vague: do better.
In contrast, imagine a conversation that includes a discussion of how an employee has improved relevant skills. Perhaps their sales manager has noticed that they’ve invested time in improving their communication skills, and that’s translating to better sales calls. The employee may have received workplace coaching around navigating difficult conversations, and their ability to overcome challenges with customers is improving.
In the second example of building a sense of purpose at work, the messaging would focus on the employee’s growth, personally and professionally, and how it impacts results. It would be clear to both parties that investing time and effort into developing this employee is beneficial to everyone.
Leaders cannot “force” people to care, but they can create the conditions where intrinsic motivation grows naturally. Day to day behaviour from managers is often what determines whether someone leans in or quietly disengages. In companies using intrinsic motivation well, you see leaders acting as coaches and enablers, not just task managers.
People are more motivated when they understand what is expected of them and feel they are being treated fairly. Clear goals, simple priorities, and transparent decision-making give employees a solid foundation to do their best work.
Fairness matters just as much. When opportunities, recognition, and feedback feel consistent across the team, it is easier for employees to focus on doing good work instead of worrying about politics. These are subtle but powerful examples of intrinsic motivation in an organization: people give their best because they trust the system, not because they are trying to “game” it.
If every answer has to come from the boss, motivation drops quickly. Leaders who ask, “What do you think?” or “How would you approach this?” signal that independent thinking is valued.
Encouraging employees to propose solutions, test new ideas, and challenge assumptions taps into curiosity and ownership, both core parts of any practical intrinsic motivation definition. Over time, this builds a culture where people feel responsible for outcomes, not just executing instructions.
Psychological safety means people feel safe to speak up, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of being embarrassed or punished. Without it, intrinsic motivation in a company is almost impossible to sustain.
Leaders build safety by listening more than they speak, owning their own mistakes, and responding constructively when things go wrong. When employees see that honest feedback and experimentation are welcomed, they are far more likely to engage deeply with their work and share their best ideas.
Sometimes people want to do great work but feel blocked by outdated processes, unclear approvals, or constant fire drills. One of the most practical ways leaders can support intrinsic motivation in a company is to clear those obstacles.
That might mean simplifying workflows, coordinating priorities across departments, or protecting focus time so teams are not pulled in five directions at once. Each time a leader removes a barrier, they send a strong message: “Your effort and energy matter here.” In companies using intrinsic motivation, this kind of behind-the-scenes work from leaders is what keeps motivation from burning out under the weight of everyday friction.
To go deeper on the role leaders play, you can also explore how mentorship and learning shape a purpose-driven team. In this HR Confessions podcast, SkillCycle digs into how managers can pair day-to-day coaching with a culture of continuous learning so employees feel supported, stretched, and connected to something bigger than their job description. It is a helpful real-world companion to these ideas, showing how organizations turn intrinsic motivation into everyday habits, not just theory.
Many organizations want easy solutions for inspiring employees to better performance, but it’s not quite that simple. Employees can be driven by intrinsic motivation in the workplace, but how do you get them to care about performance reviews or sales targets?
There often needs to be more understanding of why employees join organizations and why they stay. Promotions and raises might keep some team members in your company, but these incentives don’t tend to make them feel committed to an organization.
“The assumption is made that people have bought into what you’re trying to accomplish in your organization, and that will be enough to retain them,” says Hibschman. “However, personal growth keeps people in their roles — and companies.”
Examining and breaking down assumptions is an excellent place to start, as these will likely be significant obstacles to creating a more purpose-driven workplace.
Leaders should ask themselves what they have done so far to support their employees’ growth and how they communicate the value of that growth. What systems are in place to learn what matters to your employees, and is your work environment a safe place to grow?
How to increase intrinsic motivation in the workplace
Leaders can create a culture that encourages this type of internally driven employee by recognizing that growth isn’t just about business and professional outcomes. Equally valuable and measurable outcomes can be seen from both personal and professional development at work.
“The best thing you can do is openly and explicitly acknowledge the interconnectivity and communicate to employees that you are developing them because their growth benefits them and the organization,” says Hibschman. “It doesn’t need to be hidden.”
Companies should be investing in employee growth and clearly messaging that they are doing so because they believe in the employee’s capacity to grow and positively impact both their own goals and those of the organization.
The bottom line? Never undervalue personal growth because, on the surface, it may not appear to drive business results. But it might be fueling more of your company’s success than you realize — a win for all involved.
Connecting the dots between motivation, purpose, and performance in your organization is within your reach. Schedule a demo to learn more.
Intrinsic motivation is not something you “fix” once and forget. To make it part of everyday life at work, you need long-term habits that keep it visible, measurable, and supported. In companies using intrinsic motivation intentionally, leaders treat it like any other key priority: they track signals, adjust when things slip, and keep the conversation going.
Start by keeping goals clear and values visible. People are more likely to stay motivated when they know what they are working toward and how it connects to the bigger picture. Team OKRs, simple scorecards, and regular check-ins all help make this connection obvious. Over time, patterns from engagement surveys, one-on-ones, and performance conversations become real examples of intrinsic motivation in an organization – or early warning signs that energy is dropping.
Next, regularly review growth paths. Intrinsic motivation thrives when people feel they are progressing, not standing still. Make career paths, skill expectations, and development opportunities easy to find and talk about. Ask employees where they want to grow, then align stretch projects or learning options with those goals. This turns a textbook intrinsic motivation definition (doing work for interest and growth) into something employees experience day to day.
Finally, refresh challenges and responsibilities so work does not become stale. That might mean rotating responsibilities, inviting people into cross-functional projects, or giving them ownership of a new initiative. When leaders keep updating the mix of autonomy, purpose, and challenge, they help sustain intrinsic motivation in a company instead of letting it fade after a single campaign or engagement push.
Personal goals and work motivation are tightly linked. When people see their role as a way to move closer to what they want in life (financial security, learning a craft, making an impact), intrinsic motivation naturally increases. Work becomes more than tasks; it becomes a vehicle for personal progress.
When goals are misaligned – for example, someone wants to lead, but never gets a chance to own projects – motivation usually drops. That is why clear conversations about personal goals are so important for building intrinsic motivation in a company.
Treating “personal growth” and “work growth” as two separate tracks sends the wrong signal. In reality, the skills you build at work – communication, problem solving, leadership – shape your life outside work too.
Leading companies using intrinsic motivation recognise this and design development plans that support both: performance in role and long-term growth. When employees feel their workplace supports them as whole people, they are more engaged, loyal, and willing to go the extra mile.
Yes. Intrinsic motivation, by definition, is about internal drive, not about having a “cool” office or a specific industry. Even in highly regulated or process-heavy environments, you can increase autonomy, clarify purpose, and support mastery.
The question is not “Is our workplace suitable?” but “How can we design roles, feedback, and leadership behaviour so people feel trusted, challenged, and supported?” That is what differentiates intrinsic motivation in a company that thrives from one that relies only on rules and rewards.
When people can see themselves getting better – learning new skills, taking on bigger challenges, becoming more confident – they feel a natural sense of pride and ownership. That feeling is a core part of any intrinsic motivation definition.
Growth makes work feel meaningful. Instead of “just doing my job,” employees start to think, “This is helping me become the person I want to be.” That shift is powerful. It turns training, feedback, and stretch projects into everyday examples of intrinsic motivation in an organization.
Some common signs include:
When you see these behaviours across teams, you are seeing real intrinsic motivation in a company at work: people driven by purpose, interest, and growth, not just external pressure.
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