Employee engagement is one of the key challenges facing organisations today. It influences performance, talent retention, and team satisfaction. Being engaged means going beyond one’s assigned duties and actively contributing to collective success.
For employees, engagement relies on a meaningful work environment—one that fulfils their core needs such as autonomy, sense of purpose, fair remuneration, development, and influence. For organisations, understanding exactly what motivates each employee enables them to activate the right levers: aligning responsibilities with personal aspirations, offering appropriate recognition, and providing relevant development opportunities.
MOTIVATION+ addresses this challenge by identifying the core needs each individual seeks to fulfil at work. It provides a unique tool to support talent retention, promote workplace wellbeing, and ensure meaningful and stimulating career paths.
MOTIVATION+: understanding what drives your employees
“I love my job—I’m happy and feel good at work.” Comments like this reflect an environment where professional needs are fully met. Conversely, when those needs go unmet, discomfort, frustration, and a sense of being misunderstood may set in. As a result, employees may disengage, losing the drive to perform at their best.
MOTIVATION+ analyses 15 essential needs that contribute to professional wellbeing. While these needs tend to remain relatively stable over time, their level of importance may shift throughout a person’s career. However, the degree to which these needs are fulfilled is more likely to fluctuate. Changes in role, team, work environment or even career path can significantly affect this balance.
Let’s look at how MOTIVATION+ can be used to analyse these dynamics and support evolving professional needs.
Recruitment: establishing the right conditions for new employees
In recruitment, personality and skills are often assessed to ensure good performance. Yet without sufficient motivation, even the best skills may not be fully utilised. This is where MOTIVATION+ comes in.
The tool is available in two versions: MOTIVATION (which assesses the 15 core needs) and MOTIVATION+ (which includes an evaluation of how well those needs are being fulfilled). For recruitment purposes, only the MOTIVATION version should be used, as candidates cannot assess the fulfilment of needs in a role they have not yet occupied.
However, it is strongly recommended to identify the candidate’s motivational drivers during the recruitment stage, to ensure the organisation can provide a suitable framework that aligns with them.
Take, for instance, a candidate applying for an HR assistant role whose results indicate strong motivation for autonomy, intellectual curiosity, and having their ideas valued. These results suggest a preference for working independently, without constant supervision. They also appreciate the opportunity to think critically and contribute to decisions in their work environment. Their wellbeing is tied to learning and task variety.
Based on this insight, the organisation might adjust the role by assigning independent responsibilities, encouraging the employee to participate in strategic discussions within the HR department, and offering a variety of projects that support their learning and development.
Annual reviews: maintaining employee engagement
Annual reviews are an opportunity to reflect on the past year, and tests like MOTIVATION+ can enhance this process by planning the year ahead according to the employee’s evolving needs. The assessment may highlight sources of tension or the emergence of new needs, in which case tasks and responsibilities can be adjusted to maintain employee engagement.
As with any assessment, MOTIVATION+ should be completed voluntarily. That said, employees are often willing—and even eager—to complete it, viewing it as a sign of consideration from their manager and an opportunity to voice concerns that may be difficult to express otherwise. The annual review provides an ideal setting to discuss the results in detail.
Consider the case of an employee who has been with the company for several years. Their previous assessments show relative stability in both needs and satisfaction levels. However, this year, a new need emerges: helping others. This manifests as a desire to share their knowledge and experience.
In response, the organisation might explore options such as mentoring or delivering in-house training. The MOTIVATION+ report includes a dedicated "Recommendations" section that provides discussion prompts and practical actions. This approach turns the annual review into a meaningful moment for alignment and renewed engagement.
Career reviews: understanding what impacts wellbeing
Career reviews aim to take stock of an individual's journey and identify what motivates them. MOTIVATION+ serves as an excellent tool for reflection, helping uncover sources of frustration or dissatisfaction from previous experiences. It enables individuals to clarify expectations, avoid repeating past patterns, and build a more fulfilling professional future.
In this context, it is recommended to use the MOTIVATION+ version, completed with reference to the individual’s most recent role. The report then assesses the alignment between the individual’s needs and their actual experience, highlighting unmet needs and offering material for a constructive discussion.
For example, let’s consider someone whose main motivations include social impact, a positive work environment, security, and wellbeing. These needs reflect a person-oriented mindset, focused on helping others, offering comfort, and seeking stable employment in a supportive setting. This person needs to make a difference in their community, to work with purpose, and to be close to those they help.
However, this person had been working for several years as a nurse in a private hospital where productivity demands left little time for patient care. Despite the human-centred nature of the role, they experienced considerable frustration because they could not practise it in line with their values.
MOTIVATION+ helped them realise that their dissatisfaction stemmed not from the profession itself, but from the work environment. As a result, they were able to explore alternative roles more aligned with their needs—such as palliative care in a rehabilitation centre or within a non-profit organisation, where patient relationships are central and productivity is not the overriding concern
MOTIVATION+ is a unique tool that perfectly complements personality, interest, and work-related stress assessments. It identifies the core needs individuals seek to fulfil to maintain their balance and wellbeing at work. By addressing these needs, organisations can foster long-term engagement among their employees.
