Intrinsic Motivation at Work

What motivates people to do their best work in any endeavor they undertake? Management theory and practice has traditionally focused on elements that Kenneth Thomas calls extrinsic motivators: pay, benefits, status, bonuses, commissions, pension plans, expense budgets, and the like. While these are powerful motivators, particularly in command-control job situations in which workers have little or no say in how the job is managed, they are no longer enough by themselves.

In today's organizations, in which managers expect workers and teams to self-manage their work, intrinsic rewards are essential. This breakthrough book provides the first comprehensive treatment of intrinsic motivation in the workplace—the psychological rewards workers get directly from the work itself—offering clear advice on how companies can harness its tremendous power to develop a more committed, self-managing workforce.

Written in an engaging, accessible style and grounded in solid academic research, this book provides a diagnostic framework for addressing problems of intrinsic motivation and essential ways to build it.