People are motivated by a number of different things. Some people are motivated by money, others by meaning, and some by praise & recognition amongst other things.
Sometimes as managers, we attempt to shift our management style to appease someone’s motivations, but that can be difficult if you have trouble offering someone something they need. Maybe your company is resource constrained and can’t offer big incentives or maybe you’re not the type to offer compliments and recognition often. Sometimes your company may not be able to give an employee meaning if all you do is fix AC units all day.
Identifying a hire’s motivations can often help you avoid issues down the road and help you spot issues in performance early.
Adam Salamon 