Employees motivation and high performance workplace practices

Existing evidence shows that employees’ motivation usually improves in presence of innovative workplace practices. This paper examines whether this result is ascribable to a higher intrinsic motivation, which grants a higher effort for a given remuneration and job quality, or to a higher extrinsic motivation. A simple model of organizational commitment is suggested to help identify the channels through which innovative practices affect motivation. The model is estimated on a nationally representative sample of Italian employees. Results show that practices providing substantial empowerment are powerful intrinsic motivators: for given pay and working conditions, they strengthen employees’ attachment to the firm and identification with its values. In contrast, innovative practices bear only marginally on the extrinsic motivation; moreover, pecuniary rewards are negative reinforcers when contingent on performance; finally, the relative wage can affect employees’ attachment to the firm but not their sense of belonging.