Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Publication Date
Spring 5-1-2023
Journal
Undergraduate Honours Theses
Abstract
Employee motivation plays a crucial role in both the short term as well as long term growth of a company and is an essential factor in creating an effective relationship between employers and employees. In particular, the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is that intrinsic motivation comes from within (purpose, pleasure), whereas extrinsic motivation relies on external factors (pay, recognition). This study aimed to replicate prior research to understand whether intrinsic motivation is significantly higher in seasoned workers, as well as if extrinsic motivation is significantly higher in new workers. Additionally, the study aims to investigate whether there is a shift in the above-mentioned trends due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample used was 19 individuals who had been working for less than five years (new employees) and 19 individuals who had been working for more than 15 years (seasoned employees). Participants completed two surveys one which was focused on employee motivation and influence of COVID-19; the second survey focused on collecting demographic data. The findings indicated that seasoned employees had statistically higher intrinsic motivation than new employees. Moreover, seasoned employees had statistically higher intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation. In addition, new employees did not have statistically higher extrinsic motivation than intrinsic motivation. Lastly, new employees did not have statistically higher extrinsic motivation than seasoned employees. Possible reasons for these findings, along with limitations of the study and future direction are discussed.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Notes
Thesis Advisor(s): Elizabeth Kinghorn