Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are essential in a workplace environment and between collaborating employees. Intrinsic factors frequently relate to an employee’s gain of experience or positive attitude towards their work (Hearn, 2018). There are three primary intrinsic rewards that are often implemented in a work setting. First, the pursuit of knowledge refers to self-improvement, the development of their professional and interpersonal skills, and other work opportunities. This can often be provided individually or in team settings with ongoing training, the creation and maintenance of a personal development plan, and the formation of projects within the company. Second, employees can be given a sense of meaningfulness and importance in the workplace through intrinsic rewards. As employees prefer to do the work they enjoy and notice the visible difference it makes, it is important to keep a line of communication between employees and employers. Third, autonomy is a vital factor in the work-life of many employees that rely on intrinsic rewards as it improves engagement. This can include workload and work time flexibility and improved self-reliance and supervision.
Extrinsic rewards are not solely monetary, they refer to all benefits that come from outside enjoyment of doing the work on its own. Employees often judge extrinsic rewards by three factors which are whether the work will be rewarded, that the additional work will be noticed, and whether they need or want the reward (Burkus, 2020). However, simply increasing pay for more work hours does not result in better performance or employee satisfaction. Employers need to find a balance between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for their employees to ensure a healthy and stable work environment in which each team member is able to contribute to the progress of the company or the project without feeling overwhelmed and dissatisfied.