Examining the Job Itself as a Source of Employee Motivation

When they design a job, compensation professionals generally devote little time addressing employees’ intrinsic motivational needs. Their primary focus is to design a job that allows an employee to get the work done efficiently and at an appropriate level of compensation. Daniel Pink’s 2010 best-selling book, Drive, has caused many people to look at the job itself as a source of intrinsic motivation, especially for knowledge workers. This development gives us a needed push to reexamine the motivational value of the job itself and to consider probable reasons why this aspect of job design lacks emphasis.