Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation in the Workplace: Why Perks and Bonuses Aren’t Enough

For years, the symbol of a workplace that cares about employee motivation was the office ping-pong table. It served as a way to project that this was a workplace that cared about fun, culture, and wellbeing: You could take a break to play ping-pong every time you wanted! What more could any employee want?! It was a way to fast-track motivation by using a little perk to pay back huge dividends.

Sure, you could see game time as a nice office perk, but little extras like games, lunches, and even the odd bonus isn’t enough to make up for the motivational deficit left behind incompetent leadership. It’s an easy way out or a lazy approach to leadership that brushes all employees with the same motivational paintbrush. Sure, it might be enough for a few individuals, but the very perks you use to stimulate some workers could be alienating those who gravitate toward a different type of motivation. 

Some employees are intrinsically motivated and some are extrinsically motivated. But all are individuals and getting to know what makes them tick is your role as a leader. When you skip over some of the key parts of understanding individual employees and how to differentiate between your intrinsically and extrinsically motivated team members, you end up with unfulfilled, disengaged workers who aren’t motivated—but hey, they’ve got a ping-pong table, right? 

Too often, we try to use extrinsic motivators to make people intrinsically motivated. It doesn’t work like that. 

Intrinsic Vs. Extrinsic Motivation

Before you can think beyond the ping-pong table and surface-level perks, you need to understand some of the key differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It’s common to hear leaders idealize the intrinsically motivated employee who wants to do good work for their own personal enjoyment. But even typecasting intrinsically motivated employees in this way can backfire, since there is a lot more to them than just self-fulfillment. At the same time, discounting externally motivated employees could mean missing out on some seriously proficient, talented workers. 

So, what’s the difference? Here are some key factors in what motivates each type of employee:

What is Intrinsic Motivation?

Definition: Driven by internal rewards. An intrinsically motivated person performs tasks for personal enjoyment, satisfaction, curiosity, or a sense of purpose.

What Does Intrinsic Motivation Look Like? 

• Curiosity 
• Seeking enjoyment 
• A clear passion for something
• Doing things with internal purpose 
• No or limited outward benefits or recognition 
• Chasing interests

What is Extrinsic Motivation?

Definition: Driven by external rewards. An extrinsically motivated person performs tasks to receive external incentives, such as money, recognition, praise, or to avoid punishment.

What Does Extrinsic Motivation Look Like?

• Seeking recognition
• Clear incentive to success 
• Interest in being perceived a certain way
• Fear of negative consequences or punishment
• Seeking monetary rewards

Here’s the thing about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: One is not superior to the other. You actually need the right balance of employees for a well-rounded, engaged workforce.Therefore, it’s not about only hiring and motivating one type of employee, but knowing what works best for each individual and tailoring your motivational strategy accordingly. 

Why Extrinsic Rewards Aren’t Enough

While extrinsic motivators clearly have their place and can be effective for certain individuals and goals, solely relying on them presents significant limitations. The problem arises when leaders attempt to use external rewards to foster an internal drive, often with diminishing returns. Numerous studies and workplace observations reveal that perks, bonuses, and other external incentives, while appreciated in the short term, rarely cultivate lasting engagement or true job satisfaction.

For example, a study by Bersin by Deloitte found that companies with strong recognition programs actually had 31% lower voluntary turnover rates. This suggests that while recognition matters, it needs to be part of a broader strategy that goes beyond just monetary incentives. If an employee is only performing for the next bonus or the promise of a promotion, their motivation can quickly wane once that specific reward is achieved or if it’s no longer within reach. This creates a transactional relationship with work rather than a deep, meaningful connection.

Intrinsic Motivation and Performance: Research consistently shows that for complex, creative, or knowledge-based tasks, intrinsic motivation leads to higher quality performance and greater persistence. A meta-analysis of 128 studies by Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (1999) found that tangible rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation for interesting tasks.

Furthermore, relying heavily on extrinsic rewards can sometimes backfire. Known as the “overjustification effect,” introducing external rewards for tasks that were previously intrinsically enjoyable can actually decrease a person’s intrinsic motivation for that task. If an employee loves their work for its own sake, but then starts receiving bonuses for every small achievement, their internal drive might shift to focus solely on the reward, eroding their original passion. It’s a subtle but powerful shift from “I love doing this” to “I do this to get that.” This is why a ping-pong table, while a nice amenity, won’t solve underlying issues of disengagement if employees aren’t intrinsically connected to their work or purpose.

How Do You Know What Motivates Employees?

Whether you’re in the midst of hiring or you already have your team in place, you need to know what is going to motivate employees. The PAT℠ can help you take an objective approach by letting you know what drives candidates by quantifying their mindset, personality traits, and behavior. 

You can also be more intentional with the types of questions you ask during interviews and in check-ins with your current employees. Questions like, “What do you do in your spare time?” and “What do you like about it?” can give you insight into what drives employees. If they tell you they love gardening because it keeps their stress level low and they love to continuously learn new techniques, you know they’re intrinsically motivated. If they say they love gardening and they enter a yearly rose-growing contest, it’s a good clue that they are more extrinsically motivated. 

Purpose-Driven Work: A LinkedIn survey revealed that 74% of professionals say that “the opportunity to make an impact and be part of something meaningful” is important to them. This highlights the strong intrinsic motivator of purpose and contribution in the workplace.

Another great question to ask is “How do you like to be recognized for a job well done?” Some employees will tell you that they’d prefer praise or expect that recognition to springboard into potential promotions. That’s extrinsic motivation. Others will seem uncomfortable answering the question because they don’t expect outward recognition. They prefer to have their effort recognized rather than the outcomes. That’s a clear sign that someone is intrinsically motivated. 

Finally, simply asking them if they have any questions for you can give you useful insight into what is going to motivate someone. If their questions are mostly about things like salary, promotions, and perks, you know they’ll be extrinsically motivated—and that’s not a bad thing! No one employee is perfect, and you’re simply understanding how they work and how best to keep them engaged and satisfied in their role.

How to Motivate Employees 

Once you understand which side of the spectrum of motivation each employee falls on, you can create expectations and experiences to engage and excite. By aligning your leadership to an individual approach, you foster an environment where employees feel free to succeed on the terms that make the most sense to them.

Intrinsically Motivated Employees

Remember that intrinsically motivated employees are engaged by passion, interest, and curiosity. Here are the things that get their internal interests fired up:

• Autonomy and control.
  Give intrinsically motivated employees a high degree of control over their own processes, choices, and goals. They work best when they can be masters of their own engagement and won’t respond to simply following orders without understanding what’s in it for them.
• Humble inquiry.
  Asking careful,open-ended questions is an important way to foster trust and engagement with an intrinsically motivated employee. Instead of telling them what to do, ask “Have you thought about doing it this way?” or “What are some of your ideas for the best way to tackle this project?” 
• Constant challenge.
  Intrinsic motivation works best when it’s constantly being challenged and pushed to learn more. Those who respond to this type of motivation love to learn, ask questions, and create solutions, so offer plenty of opportunities to further their knowledge base. 
• Praise effort over outcome.
  Instead of offering recognition once a task is complete, keep motivation high by seeing the effort and giving constructive feedback during the process. 

Recognition vs. Rewards: While extrinsic recognition (like praise or awards) can be valuable, it’s often more effective when it acknowledges effort, progress, and competence, rather than just the final outcome. When recognition is perceived as controlling or manipulative, its positive effects can diminish.

Extrinsically Motivated Employees

Don’t discount your extrinsically motivated employees. They’re decisive and highly proficient—if you know how to keep them engaged. Try these tactics:

• Offer clear goals.
  Extrinsically motivated employees need to understand what it looks like to succeed. They want the task and the desired outcome clearly defined so they know exactly what they’re working toward and how they’ll benefit from reaching those goals.
• KPIs and measurable outcomes.
  Unlike their intrinsically motivated counterparts, extrinsically motivated employees are less interested in the effort and more engaged by hard data and clear results. They want to know what to deliver and expect to see measurable results. It’s not enough to praise the effort, you’ll need to be aware of just how that effort affected your organization’s bottom line and offer recognition accordingly. 
• Timely recognition and rewards.
  Motivate extrinsically by making sure to reward specific outcomes. Whether it’s a callout during a meeting or little perks like lunches or gift cards after finishing a big project, extrinsically motivated employees love to be recognized for a job well done. 
• Evaluations and consequences.
  It might seem counterintuitive, but extrinsically motivated people require consequences to be effective. The fear of punishment or clear negative consequences can help them stay engaged and operate at the highest level. At the same time, regular evaluations can help them pinpoint weaknesses and receive recognition and praise for their strengths. 

Compensation and Motivation Threshold: While fair compensation is a baseline requirement, research (including work by Daniel Pink in Drive) suggests that once a certain level of pay is met, additional monetary incentives have a decreasing impact on complex task performance and may even detract from intrinsic motivation. The focus shifts from “how much can I get” to “what can I achieve.”

Going Beyond the Ping-Pong Table

Understanding how to motivate employees needs to go far beyond the typical workplace perks. These, while they might work for some, paint everyone as the same type of employee. What was meant to engage and motivate could have the opposite effect and is a superficial approach to a complex and deep topic. Don’t take the easy way out: Think beyond the ping-pong table to create an impactful motivational strategy that gets the most out of each employee.

Ready to understand what truly motivates your team?The Positive Culture Index goes beyond surface-level perks to uncover the deeper cultural drivers of engagement, purpose, and motivation in your workplace. Use it to measure what matters—then build a culture where intrinsic motivation thrives.