We have a hierarchy of needs that we require from our jobs or careers. These needs must be met in order; we can’t care about higher-order things until the basics are covered.
The very base of the pyramid is the job itself. We need to have some sort of source of income, our employment. Until that need is met, it’s hard to think about things like pursuing a passion or deeper purpose.
The next level up is Steadiness. We need to feel like the money is coming in predictably, that our employment is reasonably secure, and that we aren’t one errant sneeze away from losing our job. If we’re in that kind of fear state, we can’t think higher.
Once those two levels are covered, now we can start thinking about a team. We want good coworkers, pleasant managers, etc. To some extent this level affects the level below it, but until we’re generally not going to be picky about our colleagues until we’re sure we can be without threatening the basic employment. (But this is why you can’t win people over with a pizza party if they’re worried about steady employment – they’re too low on the pyramid for them to care about team-building yet!)
If we have steady employment with a good team, the next level is caring about advancement. Once we feel like the job is safe and has good people in it, we want to start growing and building. We want to put down roots and get promoted. We want to build that team, not just be on it.
The highest level of the pyramid is passion for the work. The other rewards have to be met before most people can really dedicate themselves here. It’s hard to be passionate about work, even work you love, if you can’t pay your rent and your boss is a jerk. Asking people to care about “the mission” under those circumstances rings hollow.
Understand where people are in the pyramid of job/career needs, and you’ll understand how to help them and motivate them.
The Opportunity Machine 