What Motivates Employees at Work: Perspectives Across the Workforce
- ROHEI
- 12 hours ago
- 5 min read
Motivation evolves across career stages.
Great leaders design the environments that support what each stage needs to perform.
In a nutshell:
Motivation is not a one-size-fits-all. At its core, effective motivation begins with understanding the unique needs of every team member.
Different career stages reveal distinct motivators that managers can leverage.
Motivation thrives where leaders lead with care
In ROHEI’s study of 300 managers, we set out to understand which managerial skills they need the most support in. Out of 15 skills, “Motivation and Influence” ranked third.
This raises an important question: if motivation has always mattered, why does it remain such a persistent challenge for managers?
Rather than becoming harder, we have to recognise that motivation is nuanced and varies across individuals.
Across different life stages, career phases, and personal goals, individuals are driven by very different factors. What motivates an early-career employee exploring growth opportunities may look very different from someone seeking stability, mastery, or balance later in their journey. A similar motivation approach will not resonate equally across a team.
While external rewards serve as extrinsic motivators, they only scratch the surface. Leaders must connect with the deeper drivers of their teams—the purpose, passion, and sense of meaning. These intrinsic motivators are how employees feel about their work, and the drivers that fuel genuine engagement.
Motivation in the Workplace
Research says that at its core, work motivation is what drives people to take action and is a vital factor in organisational psychology, as it explains the causes of individual conduct. It shapes how they work, the energy they bring, and how long they stay committed. Without it, even the most skilled employee can perform poorly. With it, organisations can unlock teams capable of high performance.
In this article, we take a closer look at what motivates the workforce in Singapore today, and what patterns emerge.
We asked individuals across different career stages a simple question: What motivates you to do your best at work? The responses were varied, but telling.
The following quotes and results are based on a ROHEI poll of professionals across early, mid, and late career stages.
Motivation looks different at every stage
1. Early Career (0-5years)
Early-career employees, typically within their first five years on the job, are driven by growth, learning, and the opportunity to shape their career trajectory.
From meeting teachers’ expectations and being graded on every assignment to reporting to a manager and delivering results in the workplace, the system feels familiar: work hard, and outcomes follow. At this early stage, employees are not just trying to “do the job”, they are shaping their professional identity.
Research by Gallup shows that younger workers are motivated by chances to take on new challenges, develop their skills, and make visible progress, rather than merely completing routine tasks. Developmental psychology research also highlights that early-career individuals seek experiences that help them explore possibilities and build confidence in their abilities.
This drive for growth and clarity drives them to seek feedback, embrace learning experiences, and look for environments that allow exploration.
The leader plays a pivotal role here.
As noted by Harvard Business Review, young professionals are especially influenced by leadership behaviours when it comes to communication norms, work ethic, flexibility expectations, and cultural cues. In these early career stages, employees are actively modelling what they see. This means leaders must be intentional about influencing motivation through the environment they create and the daily interactions their teams experience.
By modelling a healthy work ethic, setting clear expectations, and intentionally challenging them with stretch opportunities, leaders can nurture both capability and sustain motivation.
2. Mid Career (5-15 years)
Mid-career employees are motivated less by proving themselves and more by making a meaningful mark. Their motivation centers on impact, challenge, and ownership.
Research shows that autonomy is a key driver of motivation and job satisfaction for mid-career professionals. In a Forbes article, ‘Employee Autonomy: A Blessing or a Curse for Employers?’, it notes that giving teams the freedom to choose how they approach their work improves engagement, happiness, and productivity, especially when balanced with clarity and structure. Autonomy also signals trust, empowering employees to take ownership of their work.
Let’s take a look at the perspective of Respondent 4. In his survey response, he notes that he feels motivated when his leader trusts him with important responsibilities and autonomy. This is especially important for mid-career employees, who have accumulated skills and experience and want to see how their expertise can make a contribution to the organisation’s success.
For leaders, this means shifting from guidance to empowerment. Creating space for ownership, assigning meaningful challenges, and connecting day-to-day work to organisational impact can boost their teams' drive to achieve their goals.
3. Late Career (>15 years)
With extensive experience and a history of navigating diverse challenges, let’s explore what drives individuals at this stage of their careers.
People at this stage of their career have a maintained performance and have often mastered the technical and interpersonal skills required to excel. Studies tracking older workers over time find that motivation and work ability evolve in different ways for different individuals. Some maintain high motivation into later career stages, others show increases or decreases, highlighting that motivation continues to develop rather than simply decline with age.
At this stage, there is a heavy focus to find the purpose of their work and the impact they bring to the company. For leaders, this means creating roles and responsibilities that leverage senior employees’ expertise, allow them to contribute strategically, and provide opportunities for mentoring or guiding others.
The Role of the Leader: Creating the Environment for Employee Motivation
While motivation begins at the individual level, it is influenced by the environment leaders create. Leaders set the tone and pace of work, establish direction, and ultimately influence where collective efforts are directed.
This influence is not limited to formal conversations. It also emerges through brief, everyday exchanges. The way these interactions unfold directly shapes the tone of the environment and how people experience their work.
Research by Gallup has found that managers account for a significant portion of the variance in employee engagement, highlighting the critical role leaders play in shaping team experience and motivation.
Gallup has found that managers account for 70% of variance employee engagement, highlighting the critical role leaders play in shaping team experience and motivation.
Because of this, a people manager is expected to recognise each individual’s needs and strengths, and understand what truly drives them. People skills, like empathy, allow leaders to put people where they can truly value-add. When employees feel seen and heard, trust grows and a safe environment is fostered.
For leaders to motivate effectively, it is less about doing more and more about leading with intention. This means consistently modelling the behaviours you want to see, creating the right balance of guidance and autonomy, and shaping roles that give work clear purpose and meaning across different career stages.
When these three principles are applied deliberately, employees are more likely to move beyond task completion and instead develop ownership, drive innovation, and continue growing within the organisation.
ROHEI helps leaders become their best selves while equipping them to inspire and guide others, enabling them to motivate their teams more effectively.
Schedule a consultation to understand what your team needs today.