Interview Questions to Determine Level of Commitment and Motivation

Finding the ideal candidate for the job is hard enough, but finding someone who is both skilled and has a strong level of commitment and motivation is even more challenging.

These are intangible traits that aren’t visible like technical capabilities where they can simply show their CV or portfolio. With hard skills, you can easily check how capable an individual is based on their experience and output. That’s not the case with soft skills.

That is why you need to ask the right questions to assess whether or not they are committed to the job and are highly motivated innately. Use this template to help you determine such factors.

Why is this important to know?

You’d usually hear this type of question in the form of “what motivates you at work?” or “what are you passionate about?”. There are plenty of variations, but the end purpose is the same.

To determine how long you are likely to stay in the company

By asking the right questions, you can gauge how likely one will stay in the company. For example, “why do you want to work with us?” or something even as direct as “what are your plans 3 years from now?”.

This is important because you do not want someone who will leave the company soon. It can be costly with all the turnover, need to source for new employees, etc.

To be an inspiration to others to do their best

When a person is motivated at work, they can serve as an inspiration to others to do their best, as well. These people can be leaders and push others towards collective goals.

Success will be easier to grasp when people are working together doing their best to achieve milestones after milestones.

To see how they react to challenges

A lot can be revealed when a person is faced with adversity. They can either give up easily or continue to do their best for the company.

While you have the power to give forms of encouragement to the employee, this kind of decision still falls to them at the end of the day.

Types of Motivation

To briefly expound on the point above, you have to remember that two types of motivation will be relevant throughout your career as an HR professional.

First, let’s define what motivation means. Cambridge says it is the enthusiasm or willingness for doing something. It’s what makes us want to act upon tasks and what pushes us to do better. This can be connected to assessing goal-oriented behaviors.

Now, here are the two types of motivation:

1. Extrinsic motivations - motivations that come externally from an individual. These can be compliments, rewards, acknowledgments, trophies, and more.
2. Intrinsic motivations - motivations that come from inside an individual. These are more complicated as it intertwines with happiness, gratification, and perseverance. These are usually innate, but not impossible to develop.

These two are essential to remember because these things go both ways. The job seeker must have their own intrinsic motivation to give them a headstart in their career. At the same time, you have to learn that sometimes extrinsic motivations are needed to fuel their drive and passion.

Interview Questions to Discover Motivation

As mentioned, commitment and motivation are intangible. Hence, they can be hard to determine. However, it’s easier to see them based on their thought process and action.

There are general questions that you can start with and eventually put them in scenarios or ask about previous experiences to unravel their behavior.

General Motivation Questions

• Why do you want to work with us?
• What do you hope to achieve in life?
• What goals have you set for life? Can be personal goals, career goals, etc.
• What motivates you to work?
• What is your definition of success?
• Do you think that the people around you affect your level of motivation?
• How do you deal with challenges?
• How do you cope with failures?

Scenario-Based Motivation Questions

• From your experience, what motivates you to do your best at work?
• Tell me about a time when you failed to meet multiple deadlines. What did you do afterward and what would you have done differently next time around?
• Did you ever have a big idea that benefited your team or your organization? What inspired it? How did you get your colleagues equally excited about it?
• What have you learned from your past jobs that makes you more productive at work?
• Please share a moment where you went above and beyond your job description for your company. What did you do and what was the outcome?
• If you’re stuck with a routine job, what do you do to keep yourself motivated?
• Tell me about a time when you faced a challenge at work. What happened and what did you do afterwards?

Motivations at the Workplace Questions

We’ve said that motivations can be cultivated externally, too. Here are some questions that connect motivations with the workplace.

• What kind of work environment do you think is motivating?
• How would you create a workplace that your staff will find motivating?
• What kind of activities do you think will help improve employee motivation?
• Your coworker is feeling demotivated. What will you do about it?
• Have you ever been a part of a team that is not motivating at all? Why and what did you do about it?
• How about a toxic workplace? How did you keep yourself motivated despite the toxic environment?

General Work Commitment Questions

Your candidates are either fresh graduates or have left their previous role. It’s now up to you to check how committed they will be in this new position that they are applying for.

Ask these questions to see how serious they are about the job and how loyal they will be to the company. These will be an integral part of your organization's success in the long run.

• What made you leave your previous job?
• What do you think could have made you stay with your previous company?
• Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
• What career goals have you set for yourself?
• How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

Scenario-Based Commitment Questions

• If you were to pick between high salary-toxic work culture and low salary-healthy work culture, what would you pick?
• If your previous company offered a salary that matches your expectation, would you accept it?
• When is it necessary to clear the lines between work and life balance?
• Let’s say you have a family reunion happening on a workday. What will you do?
• What would make you want to stay in our company for the next 5 years?

Final Notes

It’s crucial to find employees that are highly committed and self-motivated if you want your business to flourish. These individuals will be a great asset to your team. Their sense of purpose and drive will be influential to the people around them-- making your workplace much more productive and fulfilling.

However, you need to remember that this is not a black-and-white situation. There may be instances where a candidate is unsure of their choices, but it is up to you to take risks if you believe that they have the potential to be trained and learned. Who knows? They might be your next star employee that’s just waiting to be polished!

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