What Makes People Stay: 4 Truths Behind Motivation at Work
Catherine Chai
Turning Workplaces Into Talent Magnets 🪴 Chair - EGN HR Leaders | Employer Brand Strategist | Leadership & Team Coach | Speaker | Author
“How do I motivate my team?”
This is easily the number one question leaders ask me in consulting work, coaching sessions and workshops. It's also the question I find myself coming back to again and again in conversations, training rooms, and late-night reflections.
Since I've been asked this question so many times, I decided it was time to delve deeper. Write down my thoughts and properly structure what I've learned through experience, conversations with mentors, insights from other leaders, and the training I've attended. Not only to share it, but also to clarify my thinking. (Funny how writing helps us think better, too, isn't it?)"
I hope that this piece provides not only insights but also practical prompts that you can bring back to your workplace. And if, after reading, you've taken away even one useful idea to support your team or reflect on your role, then this newsletter has done its job.
This article kicks off a four-part newsletter series called "What Makes People Stay: 4 Truths Behind Motivation at Work."
Each instalment explores one of the deceptively simple but compelling reasons people choose to stay (and thrive) in their jobs:
“I like my job”
“I like my boss”
“I like my colleagues”
“I like my pay”
Let's dive into the first one.
"I like my job" (Where Fit, Flow, and Fulfilment Meet)
Feeling that their work is meaningful is the single most crucial aspect of job satisfaction for most employees, even more important than pay.
When someone says they like their job, it's not just about loving every single task (let's be honest, nobody wakes up thrilled about expense claims or system glitches). What they're saying is: "My work makes sense to me. It fits my strengths. I know why it matters. And I'm not drowning in it." But even the most exciting job can feel like a nightmare if inefficient systems and processes turn simple tasks into Herculean efforts.
A well-liked job sits at the intersection of four things:
Workload: It's challenging, but not crushing.
Task Variety: There's enough diversity to keep it interesting, but not so much that it's chaotic.
Job Fit: The role plays to the employee's strengths, values, and aspirations.
Efficient Systems: Processes and tools that support, not sabotage, productivity.
When these elements align, employees experience what psychologists call "flow", that sweet spot where time flies, and motivation becomes intrinsic. Research by McKinsey found that individuals in a state of flow are five times more productive than those who aren't. Yet, flow doesn't happen when people are overburdened, under-challenged, or stuck doing work that doesn't fit them.
What Gets In The Way
Here's what gets in the way of an employee enjoying their job:
A role that started exciting but grew stale due to a lack of stretch or variety.
A well-meaning promotion that led to role misfit - the classic "great individual contributor, struggling manager" story.
A workload that's so overwhelming, even meaningful tasks lose their joy and feel like a burden.
A sea of inefficient systems and clunky processes that turn simple tasks into an exhausting marathon. It's hard to stay motivated when just submitting a leave request feels like ordering food on an app that keeps crashing right before checkout.
Employees are most likely to thrive when they feel their work is manageable, engaging, and personally relevant.
The Role of Organisations, Managers and Individuals
1. What Organisations Can Do
Redesign jobs periodically: Roles should evolve as the business grows — and as employees evolve too. Build in periodic reviews of job scopes to ensure they stay energising, not exhausting.
Allow for stretch and lateral moves: Not every move needs to be up. Lateral shifts into new domains can renew interest and build cross-functional skills.
Support job crafting: Give employees some agency in how they carry out their work, allowing them to adjust tasks, relationships, and their perception of their role. This boosts both autonomy and satisfaction.
Streamline processes: Outdated tools and endless bureaucracy frustrate employees and erode motivation. Modernise workflows and invite employee feedback on process pain points.
2. What Managers Can Do
Check for energy, not just output: In one-on-ones, ask not just what someone is working on, but how they feel about it. "What's something in your work that energises you?" can be more telling than a performance metric.
Balance stretch and support: Variety is motivating, but chaos is not. Introduce new challenges at a pace that builds confidence, not burnout.
Watch for signs of overload: If every task is marked urgent or the team is constantly in "firefighting" mode, it's time to re-evaluate resourcing or priorities.
Spot bottlenecks: Ask team members which tools or processes make their job harder. Often, a minor fix (like automating a repetitive task) can massively improve morale.
3. What Individuals Can Do
Know your strengths and career compass: Reflect on what kind of work brings you alive versus what drains you, and share that with your manager. No one can help you shape a better job fit if you don't know what that is.
Ask for task variety: If your days are a rinse-and-repeat cycle, suggest new projects, process improvements, or collaborative initiatives to break the monotony. It shows initiative and helps you grow.
Manage your energy: If your workload is consistently unsustainable, raise it early. Burnout doesn't announce itself; it sneaks in quietly, often masked as "just pushing through."
Speak up about pain points: If clunky processes are slowing you down, raise them early. It's better to offer a fix than be known as the team's designated whiner.
Motivation tip: People don't just quit jobs because they're "hard." They leave when their work no longer feels worthwhile. A role that matches the person, in rhythm, relevance, and room to grow, is a powerful motivator.
Your Turn
If you're in a position to shape organisational strategy or culture:
How are you designing systems, processes, and policies that make it easier for people to say “I like my job” and mean it?
If you're an HR leader or manager:
How are you shaping roles, tasks, or systems to help people say, "I like my job"?
If you're an individual contributor:
What's one thing you can change or speak up about to make your work more meaningful or manageable?
What's one slight shift that made a big difference in how you or your team feel about the work? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Next up: What happens when you don't just like your job but trust the person leading you? In Part 2, we'll dive into the manager–employee relationship and why "I like my boss" is often the dealbreaker (or dealmaker) for motivation. Keep a lookout!