Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in Organizations

In order to understand intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, one must understand what

motivation is first. Motivation is not something that can actually be seen. One can only see

behaviors that can cause some sort of motivation. Motivation is a force that pushes people

towards their goals or reach some sort of potential. A person’s performance is a result of their

motivation and ability to do the task at hand or lack thereof (Long, 2018). According to Ned

Dobos, the average United States employee is estimated to spend 2.09 hours of their work day

engaged in tasks other than the work they are assigned to do (Dobos, 2017). When motivation is

low, it does not only affect that one person, but also that organization as a whole.

Intrinsic motivation is defined as a behavior that is driven by psychological rewards

(Altringer, Amabile, Moran & Hennessey, 2015). Internal fulfilments meet a worker’s personal

needs of satisfaction, security, self esteem and value (Long, 2018). These are activities or

performances that we participate in because we enjoy the activity itself.

An example of intrinsic motivation would be any professional athlete, specifically Serena

Williams. Williams released a Gatorade commercial, highlighting influential moments in her

tennis career. Included in this were clips of her playing when she was a little girl in Compton,

California, a hardscrabble and rough neighborhood (Gatorade, 2015). This suggests that an

intrinsic motivator for her has been the love for the game from a young age prior to her success

and billions of dollars in winning and endorsements.

Extrinsic motivation is driven by external factors or rewards. This type of motivation

highly dominates professional managers. They believe that extrinsic motivators are the number

one way to insure performance. They also believe that maintaining the professional distance is

necessary for maximum success of the organization.

 Po in Kung Fu Panda exhibits extrinsic motivation by working harder for a reward. In the

movie, Po is training to defend his valley from an attack. His teacher offers him dumplings if he

completes each task during his training. In the end, this helped train Po to become an excellent

warrior (Osborne & Stevenson, 2008).

Leaders in organizations utilize intrinsic and extrinsic motivators on a daily basis. It is a

great way to push employees to complete tasks without overwhelming them. Leadership styles

that use intrinsic motivation include transformational, situational, and female leadership.

Leadership styles that use extrinsic motivation include transactional and male leaders.

Transformational leaders use intrinsic motivation that activates pride and loyalty

(Paarlberg & Lavigna 2010). Transformational leadership causes employees to change their

behavior. This pairs well with intrinsic motivation because they both relate well with values and

beliefs. Since situational leaders change their leadership style according to the employees they

are leading, intrinsic is good way to encourage their followers to complete the tasks they are

asked of. Situational leaders know that employees are more likely to take on the tasks that they

think they are capable of (Almansour, 2012). Female leaders are focused on fostering

relationships with employees and external organizations (Eagly, 2007). Intrinsic motivation has

the same core values as these leaders. Many women use the personal motivation which will be

discussed further along in this paper.

Transactional leaders offer rewards, exchange promises of rewards, and are responsive to

immediate interests of workers if they get their work done (Almansour, 2012). This works well

with this style of leadership because they rely on rewards and punishments when working with

subordinates. Male leaders, unlike female leaders, are more focused on what gets done and they
reward employees for their good performance. Males also tend to use punishment to shape

employee behavior (Eagly, 2007).

Intrinsic leadership is used in some of the biggest companies that we interact with every

single day. Take Google for example. Google has what they call the 80/20 rule. 80 percent of the

time they are expected to work on what is assigned to them while the other 20 percent can be

used for personal projects (Robinson, 2018). Employees are also encouraged to collaborate with

different departments. This pushes them to complete the work they are assigned so they are

inspired to do relevant work that they love. Another example is Netflix. They create a culture of

employee freedom and responsibility so every employee is responsible for getting their work

done and stay motivated in any way that they see fit.

There are alternatives for leaders to using motivation to foster a productive work

environment. As a leader in the organization, they can show the employee their value in the

company and how the work they do is valuable. It is also important to embrace the work and life

balance. It is important to make sure employees do not get caught up in extrinsic motivators

because they will not always be there so taking those rewards and benefits away could be

beneficial (Shani, 2014).

Within the category of motivation, there are professional and personal motivators.

Professional motivators fall into the category of being extrinsic. They do not treat employees like

friends and think that personal relationships are unprofessional. An example from the show The

Office is the character Creed. He does not create relationships with his coworkers. On the

contrary, personal motivators fall into the category of being intrinsic. They believe that it is

beneficial to have relationships between coworkers exist outside of the office. These people

usually perceive professional motivators as cold or uncaring. An example of this is seen in the
show The Office with Michael. He likes to be friendly with the workers who are below him in

the hierarchical system rather than asserting his dominance.

Every motivation style or approach allows us to find desire to complete the tasks at hand.

Although the processes may differ, motivation provides a drive to work for certain outcomes.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators have the power to influence employee behaviors and

productivity. Both are transactional because employees benefit from the situation whether it be

tangible, or completely psychological. It is important to recognize and understand these course

concepts because they are applicable to employees in every organization. “Leaders who are only

motivated by external rewards do not normally make great leaders and conversely, leaders who

are not rewarded for their performance stagnate and lose morale (Eddy, 2016).”
 Resources

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Dobos, N. (2017). What's So Deviant about Production Deviance? The Ethics of 'Withholding

Effort' in the Workplace. 43(3), 519-540. Retrieved November 2, 2018.

Eagly, A. (2007). Female Leadership Advantage and Disadvantage: Resolving the

Contradictions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(1).

Eddy, J. C. (2016, May 9). Leadership- The Difference Between Intrinsic and Extrinsic

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFrrbDSEc2

Shani, O. (2014, November 01). 3 Alternatives to Employee Motivation That Don't Involve

Posters of Cats.

Robinson, A. (2018, March 12). Google Employees Dedicate 20 Percent of Their Time to Side

Projects. Here's How It Works. Retrieved from www.inc.com