When managing human capital in an organization, we constantly ask ourselves: What drives human behavior? What motivates people in work environments to go beyond expectations? These are two key questions that have no single answer. However, in order to understand the power of motivation, we must understand what it is. Motivation, in essence, is an emotion, articulated through an individual's attitudes and executed through his or her behavior. It is entirely a psychological-emotional force that initiates, directs and maintains a person's behavior over time and can vary according to the individual's characteristics or personality traits. Therefore, as a basis, we must have the knowledge that all behavior is caused by and has a direction, specifically toward desired outcomes.
We can continually see how the management of organizations, when they perceive a problem of productivity, absenteeism, tardiness or turnover, automatically decide that the problem is that people are unmotivated and consider that sending their employees to self-help seminars or hiring motivators are the correct interventions to solve the problem. Decisions that are ineffective and inappropriate with respect to the lack of understanding of the true dynamics of organizational behavior. Motivation or demotivation is not a problem, nor is it a cause, but rather a symptom in response to a multiplicity of factors within the work environment. Motivation has a direct relationship with the satisfaction that the person feels and executes with respect to his company. For this reason, the level and persistence of an employee's motivation will be directly tied to his or her degree of satisfaction with the climate and culture of his or her organization. On the other hand, each person's individual factors or personality traits play a key role in the initiation of motivated behavior. Each person is different with respect to his or her psycho-emotional guidelines and response to them over time. For example, an employee, whose personality traits include an external locus of control, will be susceptible to the influence of the environment and this will be a determinant of his or her emotions, which will therefore be reflected in his or her behavior and performance. On the other hand, if we find an employee who has a personality trait defined by an internal locus of control, which is characterized by a high degree of internal motivation, where the environment has little influence on his emotions or direction, he will have a high sustained performance in the short and medium term with a high probability, depending on the work environment or climate, of leaving the organization; a response totally related to dissatisfaction.
The focus of all these dynamics is that every intervention that is made with respect to the performance of human capital is implemented from the perspective of maximizing its performance. A person with a high degree of intrinsic motivation, as part of his psychological patterns, in a psychologically sick and distorted environment, will comply with the minimum expected, without generating commitment and will end up leaving the company. On the other hand, an employee susceptible to the influence of the environment, with respect to his behavior, in the same work environment, will be dissatisfied, will possibly meet expectations and will end up leaving the organization. In both scenarios, there will be no additional and persistent effort due to the person's attitude in response to such an environment. Therefore, the investment of human capital will not be maximized and will be underutilized.
One of the investigations conducted by myself along with other colleagues, in 2018, regarding human behavior in organizations was specifically, on motivation, satisfaction and commitment. A total of 1,477 people employed across 7 industries in Puerto Rico, and within all organizational levels, were evaluated with respect to those three variables, and I share with you some results. Of the sample, 71% showed that they feel motivated if the position they occupy challenges them and promotes the use of their competencies and skills. On the other hand, 7% explained that the motivational seminars motivate them to feel better, but not in relation to the job. Of that 7%, 2% said that they like the motivational, self-help and/or emotional salary seminars because it takes them away from the daily routine, but they mentioned that it has no emotional effect once they get to work. Eighty-seven percent of the sample responded that they feel motivated and committed to jobs that match their professional interests and skills. However, 79% mentioned feeling satisfied and motivated when the management style makes them feel competent, offers them autonomy, promotes decision-making by position and offers continuous feedback. Finally, another result showed that 90% of the sample studied felt extrinsically motivated by company initiatives when they are directly related to performance, are measured by indicators, and perceive that the type of reward is tied to the results of the work. In this case, only 4% demonstrated feeling motivated, impacting their attitudes and work results, through motivators and/or motivational seminars. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of human behavior at work is part of the ability to maximize investment in human capital. If we want to start maximizing the investment of our human capital according to the business needs, we must understand that these seminars, consultants or motivators, is "throwing money away".    
As part of the factors that initiate and persistently maintain motivated behavior are: awareness of the employee's job purpose beyond daily tasks and its impact on the organization, learning opportunities, development and growth, direction and leadership, communication, participation, recognition, performance management, feedback, challenges, autonomy, among others. Each individual is different in the factors that motivate him/her, however, the above are some common denominators within organizations. 
Not all the symptoms that we perceive in the work environment are related to demotivation or lack of skills or competencies. A responsible diagnosis must be made to determine and identify the causes of the symptoms that we perceive, and focus the interventions towards the causes of the problems. This is the only way to focus resources and efforts on the factors that inhibit individual, group or organizational performance.

by: Dr. Luis Rodriguez Catalan, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Industrial/Organizational Psychologist