Here’s a question I ask leaders often:
“What does each person on your team need most to thrive right now?”
Most pause. Some throw out a guess. A few name one or two people they know well. But nobody can answer it confidently for every person. And that’s a big miss, because if we don’t know what drives each person’s well-being and performance, we are relying on one-size-fits-all solutions that actually fit none. It’s the leadership equivalent of buying everyone the same birthday gift. We aren’t tapping into our people’s greatest potential or supporting and coaching with the biggest impact.
Here’s why this question is so brutally hard to answer: there is so much noise to navigate through. We’ve been sold golden tickets from books, to research studies, and experts who promise that if we just focus on purpose, or flexibility, or belonging, we’ll unlock happiness and drive results at work. So we chase the buzzwords. And still, people burn out, disengage, and leave.
Introducing the 28 Human Motives
We decided to cut through the clutter and dive deep into our own quantitative research to uncover the truth. We discovered the 28 motives – our greatest motivators, human needs, and culture drivers at the heart of how people thrive at work.
These aren’t personality types or preferences. They’re the actual levers of engagement, retention, and well-being, like INNOVATION, SECURITY, ACHIEVEMENT, SELF-ESTEEM, AUTONOMY, FUN, GROWTH, and BELONGING. They are grouped into 10 motive domains in our Motives Circumplex Framework™.
Meet the Motives Met Human Needs Assessment™
Thriving is Personal, Not Universal
Our data revealed another important truth: all motives matter, they don’t matter equally to each person or team. That means the retention strategy or the well-being initiative that is meaningful to one person – the stretch project, flexible schedule, recognition, clear growth path, might land completely flat for the person sitting right next to them. Here’s where it gets even more difficult. We don’t always know what we need most, let alone what others need most. In fact, 58% of people can’t clearly articulate what they need themselves; blind spots are too common.
Yet we all have our own personal blend of: Must-have motives, nice-to-haves, and I-don’t-care-about-its. There isn’t a universal hierarchy of needs; it’s uncovering what each person’s hierarchy is in this season of their work life.
This is exactly the gap we built the Motives Met Human Needs Assessment™ to close.
It’s a 15-minute online assessment that reveals each person’s unique motive profile – their top 5 motives, secondary 5, and personalized strategies for meeting them at work.
A New Way to Lead & Co-Create Cultures People Don’t Want to Leave
“I was just blown away by Motives Met! The Motives Met Assessment tool is unlike anything else I’ve seen out there, whether it’s assessments you can do when you hire people, the DiSC assessment, or personality styles. This is different. This is unique. My team found so much value out of the assessment and workshop, they gave me constant positive feedback.”
It’s the shift from one-size-fits-none to human-first leadership that actually sticks. For leaders and teams, a suite of resources to turn insights into action, to better understand motives, have meaningful motive conversations, and co-create a workplace where people’s most important needs are actually met. Because building a great culture isn’t just on you as a leader; it’s about sharing the responsibility and accountability to keep motives healthy with everyone.
Included is a Team Motive Map, which shines a spotlight on the collective top motives shaping your team’s subculture:
• What motives are strongest?
• Where is greater alignment needed?
• Which motives are struggling most and why?
Bring This to Life With Your Team
Motive Clarity Changes Everything
Here’s what teams and leaders say they experience after the assessment:
We’d love to show you what motive clarity
can do for you and your team.
Want to Check Out the Human Needs Assessment™ for Your Team? Send us a message, and we’ll send you a free code to check out the assessment. We know you’ll love it! Better yet, grab a time to chat with us below, and we can talk about how motives can support you and your team.
