Improve Work Blog
Misconceptions About Employee Motivation and Their Costs For Teams and Businesses
Posted By: Daniela Tancau, June 26, 2026
Misconceptions About Employee Motivation and Their Costs For Teams and Businesses
What employers think about employee motivation strongly shapes how they act toward their teams.
Misconceptions about employee motivation cost them and their teams as well. They led to decisions and actions that are set to fail from the beginning because they are based on conceptions that are inaccurate, and that don’t provide a good understanding of when motivation exists.
By exploring these common misunderstandings, we can gain clarity and make more effective decisions and actions.
Misconception 1:
Motivation is an Employee Trait
We can only talk about an employee’s motivation toward a specific job within a specific company, not about motivation in general.
Motivation exists and is measured in relation to a specific job. The same person can have different levels of motivation in two different jobs, whether in the same company or in different companies.
An analogy would be that we don’t like food in general; we like specific dishes. We don’t like education in general; we are drawn to specific fields and areas of study. We don’t like clothes in general; we like and prefer specific styles of dress.
Similarly, we are not motivated to work regardless of the type of work. We enjoy and engage in specific types of work. We also don’t thrive in every work environment; we prefer and perform better in specific work environments.
Consequences of This Misconception
The management thinks that they can’t do anything about an employee’s low motivation. The responsibility is place entirely on the employee, and management does nothing to improve motivation.
Low motivation is maintained by not doing anything to improve or change the conditions that lead to it. The company incurs losses in terms of financial costs, time, and resources.
Some employees may feel unfairly judged. They may be labelled as lazy or uncommitted, when in fact, they may simple responding to internal conditions.
For example, an employee may have worked very hard at some point and made significant contributions, but because someone else took credit for his or her work, that employee stopped working as hard. Another example is when a promised bonus for certain results is not given. Or, in another situation, the employee is frequently assigned tasks that are not part of his or her responsibilities and that he or she did not sign up for.
Lack of action to understand a specific employee’s low motivation can lead to even lower motivation, a low retention rate, and possible a negative employer reputation.
When Management Doesn't Hold This Misconception
Those who understand employee motivation know that it depends on how well a job and a company respond to a person’s preferences / expectations in terms of what they like in a job and workplace.
They focus on understanding a person’s expectations and assessing how well the job, with everything it involves, corresponds to these expectations.
They can modify the job to meet the employee’s expectations to a greater degree, assign more meaningful tasks and roles, and create conditions that facilitate engagement, among other things.
They are also able to better select the people they bring into the company by identifying these expectations by the beginning.
A candidate who wants the job is not necessarily motivated by the job. The role may be seen as a temporary job, used to secure the financial resources they need until they find another job that they actually like.
Misconception 2:
Employees Should Motivate Themselves
Most probably, this misconception comes from the misunderstanding that employee motivation is about the employees convincing themselves to be motivated. It doesn’t work like that. Is not about a ”motivational” speech or willpower.
Job Expectations Plays a Major Role in Employee Motivation
As explained above, motivation depends on the degree in which a job, with all it entails, respond to an employee’s expectations.
To motivate themselves would mean convincing themselves they want all the things they are experiencing in a job. If they don’t like, for example, their tasks, they should convince themselves that they do. If they resent the way they are lead, they should tell themselves that they like it, and so on.
How Job Expectations Are Formed
Behind employees’ expectations about a job are many factors that led to them: their past work experiences, their education, their social network and family, their lifestyle, personal goals, professional goals, believes, etc. We can’t change our expectations just by wanting to change them. And it is not always in our favour to do that.
It’s true that there are cases when employees lower their expectations and stay with the company. But this doesn’t really serve the employee, nor the company. Resentments and dissatisfaction can still be present and can impact how the employee behaves and works.
Employees Can Control Effort, Not Motivation
An employee can choose to work hard even when they are not motivated by the job, but even if their low motivation is not reflected in their work results, they will not stay with the company for long, or at least they don’t intend to.
How many times have you seen cases of highly competent employees who accepted a job just for a short period of time, just to have an activity or money until they find a better job? The costs that a company pays for these kind of hirings and the disruptions they create are worth paying more attention to candidates’ motivation for the job offered.
However, not all highly skilled employees choose to work hard for the company when they are not motivated. They may use the work time to search for other jobs or do personal things, absenteeism can be high, and they may postpone completing tasks. They may have poor attitudes and also influence their colleagues’ attitudes and engagement, intentionally or unintentionally.
Misconception 3:
Financial Rewards Are the Most Important Motivational Factor
People refuse job offers with high salary packages for different reasons. It might be that they are expected to do things they consider unethical, the responsibilities could be too low or to high, the work conditions may be toxic and they prefer to take care of their health, or the job might involve frequent travel, which can be in conflict with their family life, etc.
Therefore, financial rewards are not always, and not for everyone, the primarily motivational factor.
Consequences of this misconception
Relying primarily on motivating employees through salary packages, salary increases, or bonuses leads to missing out on other motivational practices that can have a better impact and cost less.
If the company doesn’t pay attention to the variety of motivational factors, the motivation aspect remains unresolved.
Employees may prioritize those activities that bring them more financial resources and neglect other responsibilities that don’t bring money but are important for the company.
Misconception 4:
All Employees Are Motivated in the Same Way
This misconception probably has the most impact on companies. Most companies use only general motivational strategies. For example, annual or periodic salary increases based on performance evaluations, perks, sport and health benefits, training opportunities – most often limited to a small number of employees – and occasionally team-building events and parties.
Not only do employees have different motivational drivers, but the same employee may be motivated by different factors in different time periods of his or her life.
Examples
A newly graduated person may be happy just to have a job that enables him or her to gain experience in the field they studied. The salary package may not be so important at this stage, or they may have lower expectations. After five years of experience, their salary expectations may be much higher because they know what they can offer to a company. Job stability may also become more important.
An example that illustrate the differences in employees regarding motivation: two employees with the same job position and similar performance – both are promoted to team leadership positions, but one appreciates the advancement and the other does not. The first one wanted a leadership position, but the second one feels that is not suitable for the role and that is stressful to lead other people and do administrative work. The promotion brings dissatisfaction for these reasons. The employee might have preferred a salary increase or more complex projects that would help him develop even more.
Misconception 5:
Fear Improves Motivation
Monitoring employees
Monitoring employees can reflect this idea that employees need to know they are being watched to do their jobs. They don’t have the inner willingness or consciousness to do their work if they are left unsupervised.
But if employees work only when they know they are being watched, this is an indicator that they are not motivated. They may ”simulate” they work, but they are not really engaged and don’t give their best effort to do their work well.
Fear of losing the job
From another perspective, job insecurity can be used as a strategy to induce fear. For example, firing employees to set an example of what happens if tasks are not completed properly or to the required standards.
Poor performance needs to be addressed and sometimes, yes, firing is the solution, but before doing that, there are many measures that can be taken. Poor performance is not always a result of employee disengagement or lack of effort to achieve the desired results. An analysis of the expected results is required – were these realistic, did the employee have all the resources they needed to complete the task in the required standards, was the task at his or her level of competence, or it did extended their competencies?
Fear induced by competition
Encouraging competition among employees can be seen as a fear-based strategy, because employees may fear that they will not get the rewards that are promised just to the winner.
Not all employees handle the pressure of competition well, and this might led to behaviours that are not in the best interests of the company. Employees focus on their wins rather on what is best for the company, which can be much better achieved through collaborations between employees.
In a competitive work environment:
- Information can be withheld to gain advantage over others
- Knowledge sharing is not encouraged
- Work relationships are more difficult and are market by mistrust.
Book for Entrepreneurs, CEOs, Top Executives, and Team Leaders
Available on Amazon
If you have any questions or want to discuss this topic further, feel free to reach out to me directly in the comments or via email: daniela.tancau@improvework.ro
Book a Free Consultancy Session
If you are looking to develop your team leadership skills or want to improve your employees’ motivation and performance, I’m here to help.
Online Employee Motivation Programs
You can choose between two types of programs: Done for You AND Done by You
Done for You
Improve Work will implement the EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION PROGRAM in your company.
As part of this process, we will conduct interviews with your employees to assess their motivational levels and key drivers. In addition, we will hold meetings with management to ensure that the personalized and general motivational strategies proposed are aligned with the company’s goals and resources.
Done by You
You’ll learn how to improve your employees’ motivation. You’ll have access to recorded sessions that will guide you through all the steps necessary to implement the program in your company, plus 1:1 coaching sessions.
Posted By: Daniela Tancau
Daniela Tancau is an HR consultant, trainer, coach, and founder of Improve Work company. She has over seventeen years of experience in the human resources field. Her expertise lies primarily in online programs and courses aimed to increase employee motivation, develop team leadership skills, employee communication, and much more.
