What’s the Difference Between Employee Engagement & Motivation?

Imagine rebuilding a classic car. You invest all of your spare time cleaning, repairing, and locating new parts. Months of research and dedication go into restoring and reassembling.

Finally finished, it’s time to take it for a spin. Except the gas tank is empty. In fact, there’s no gas pedal. How could you have overlooked this? An emotionally priceless labor of love, destined to remain parked in one place.

Okay, this would never happen. But it’s one way to describe the difference between employee engagement and motivation. Engagement is the vehicle; motivation is the gas that takes it to new places.

Why is employee motivation important?

Motivated employees are less likely to miss work, more likely to go the extra mile, and contribute to sustained levels of employee engagement.

• Job satisfaction. Motivated employees don’t feel stuck or ignored. Their job is important to them, and they know they’re important to their job.
• Higher quality work. Engaged employees who are sufficiently motivated aren’t just thinking about doing more. They’re also thinking about doing their best.
• Innovative solutions. When striving for something better, motivated employees will think outside of the box, injecting creativity that could lead to company-wide improvements.
• Stronger commitment. As our employee motivation strategies will explain, having goals and a vision for the future firmly roots staff in company success. In many ways, team success becomes synonymous with personal success.
• Greater efficiency. These employees use their passion and experience to carry out processes efficiently. They know how to use their time and resources wisely.
• Better outcomes for companies and customers. The employer and their client or customer base reap the benefits too, in the form of better service, products, and assistance.

The difference between employee engagement and motivation

Employee motivation and engagement need one another to thrive. Motivation is short-lived without engagement. Engagement gradually tapers off without motivation. A few scenarios:

The problem: High motivation, low engagement.

Talia wants to move to a nicer apartment. She’s trying to find another job, but it’s taking longer than she’d like. The best option she has right now is to try and increase sales at her current job. She can make more commissions, earn the security deposit for the new place, and continue her job search.

Takeaway: Talia is extrinsically motivated to make money for a new apartment as quickly as possible. She isn’t engaged with her job and plans to increase performance for a limited time until she can work elsewhere.

The problem: High engagement, low motivation.

Ben has always wanted to work at the company where he’s now employed. They have an excellent reputation, he went to college with a lot of his colleagues, and he confidently executes his job duties. He loves telling people where he works.

But he thought he’d have more responsibility, or at least some input into how to handle his role. The days blend together sometimes. Ben knows what he’s doing, but is starting to wonder if it’ll lead anywhere else.

Takeaway: Ben is an engaged employee with an emotional connection to a company where he feels he belongs. However, he has nowhere to direct any motivation because goals and growth aren’t on the table at this time. That threatens his engagement long-term.

Employee motivation strategies: 7 ways to boost engagement, lift morale, and drive performance

Fortunately, there’s a great deal of overlap in ways to increase engagement and motivation. Here are seven popular employee motivation strategies anyone can get behind.

1. Set clear goals and follow up on the results

Setting goals at work–groundbreaking stuff, right? It actually can be, if we bring employees in on it.

Using employee input to create goals allows them some ownership of these objectives. They feel more responsibility and therefore more motivation to meet the challenge.

The long-term motivator is drawing the connection between the goal they met and how it served a larger company purpose. This is especially effective in siloed work environments. Show evidence of how smaller contributions built up to a collective victory.

2. Place more focus on culture and core values

We always hype up company culture for making employees feel like they belong, but with belonging comes purpose. Fulfilling your purpose and living it daily can be very motivating.

Additionally, we can put core values that emphasize motivation center-stage. When leadership walks and talks up innovation or making a difference, it propels forward movement.

3. Leverage multiple types of motivation

Extrinsic motivation is when we work toward an external reward, such as money. Intrinsic motivation is where we’re after the emotional rewards we get from the act itself, whether it’s joy, pride, curiosity, mastery, or purpose.

Be sure employees have opportunities to feel motivated by both, with a higher ratio of intrinsic motivation. This covers all bases, so the tank never runs out. Meaningful, personalized recognition is the best way to trigger intrinsic motivation, which we’ll get to later.

4. Increase transparency

Why are we doing this? How did that last project turn out? What are the chances of getting a promotion in the future? Why can’t I do it this way instead?

Never leave employees wondering too much. They should know as much about how the company is doing, what’s next, and why as is safe and appropriate. It helps inform what they see as their purpose. They have a better idea of your expectations and company needs and can therefore be motivated to meet them.

5. Emphasize professional development

Motivation requires a destination, a possibility. Employees should have a clear idea of the skills required and the milestones necessary to move up within the company.

Are promotions from within limited? There should still be training opportunities, career development discussions, lateral moves, or mentorship programs. Encouraging people to strive for more and better needs to include the employee’s future, not just company results.

6. Prioritize communication and collaboration

Open communication, check-ins, and collaboration prevent employees from living solely within their little bubble at work. It also offers them more chances to raise questions and concerns before they stew on them too long.

Feedback should remain honest and constructive, and employees should be invited to share feedback as well. These opportunities to engage and participate can result in renewed motivation to continue or improve in specific areas.

7. Learn how to do recognition right

Recognition that is specific, authentic, and right on time is like fertilizer for positivity and motivation. Form an employee recognition program that includes surveys and information-gathering to personalize recognition.

We have tons of employee motivation ideas that involve recognition, and you can start with this list of 40 examples.

Get more proven-successful employee motivation ideas

The employee motivation strategies we shared today are lauded far and wide for their morale-boosting, performance-enhancing capabilities. There are many more creative ideas and specific examples to get the ball rolling:

• Employ different types of team-building activities. Everyone can watch their skills grow and appreciate one another’s unique strengths.
• Ask thought-provoking check-in questions. Open and invite more communication and ignite highly motivational levels of creativity.
• Acknowledge employee milestones. From birthdays to work anniversaries, these help create that sense of support and belonging.
• Offer the flexibility necessary for healthy work-life balance. Clear away burnout and make more space for excitement and motivation at work.
• Use peer recognition platforms like HeyTaco. Make team camaraderie and positivity easy and fun–without disrupting workflows. Motivation is a natural consequence of having a supportive team behind you.

Employee motivation FAQ

How to improve employee retention and motivation?

Strategies that improve motivation are also useful for improving retention rates:

• Growth opportunities
• Safe spaces to exchange feedback
• A clear and defined company culture
• Regular recognition

High-performing, motivated employees may need additional challenges to stay where they are. If they feel there’s nothing left to achieve at the company, they can take their motivation elsewhere.

Should you give employee motivational gifts?

Tangible gifts aren’t motivational if they aren’t thoughtful. Personalization and sentiment are far more important than cost. It’s also important that employees know why they’re receiving a gift.

Companies like Goody specialize in employee gifts that motivate by making people feel seen. Everything from hot sauce and coffee to card games and sleep masks can speak to an individual’s interests and preferences.

What are the three motivations?

The Theory of Needs by psychologist David McClelland suggests that we have three needs driving motivation: achievement, affiliation, and power. If you want to apply this to a team in the workplace, it would be framed as such:

• Achievement: Growth opportunities, recognition for contributions.
• Affiliation: Workplace belonging, team cohesion.
• Power: Autonomy or ownership of work, enhanced responsibilities.

What is the best motivation for employees?

Positivity and recognition are the biggest motivating factors in the workplace. They’re followed by growth and opportunity. Employees are inspired to do better when they’re encouraged, their efforts are acknowledged by others, and they have something to look forward to.