The purpose of this essay is to provide an in-depth explanation of the effect that motivation can have on an employee's work commitment and performance. It will examine several motivational theories and their criticisms. We will also examine how different employee attitudes affect motivation. Finally, it will examine how motivation is related to work commitment and performance. What is motivation? Motivation can be described as a driving force within us. It causes people to try to achieve certain goals to satisfy a particular need or expectation. It makes an individual behave in a certain way and makes him make the decision to act in a certain way and to continue with these actions until they satisfy his needs and expectations. According to Mitchell there are four particular characteristics that support the definition of motivation. First of all, motivation is described as an individual phenomenon. This implies that each person has different characteristics and is different from all the others. This allows them to demonstrate their "uniqueness". Mitchell also suggests that motivation is intentional and is therefore under an individual's control. From this statement we can conclude that actions influenced by motivation are actually a choice of action. Mitchell also found that motivation can be used to predict behavior, but it isn't actually the behavior itself. Finally, Mitchell described motivation as multifaceted. He argued that the two most important factors of motivation are arousal and direction of choice or behavior. In summary, Mitchell defined motivation as "the degree to which an individual desires and chooses to engage in certain specific behaviors." Maslow (1943) believed that it is… half of the article… ions are known as Theory X and Theory Y. If an individual is a Theory physiological. He concludes that Theory X workers don't like work. They lack ambition and do not want to take on any responsibility. It is therefore impossible for them to reach a higher level such as self-realization and they will never realize their full potential. Theory Y workers, on the other hand, are motivated. Their motivation occurs at the level of affiliation, self-realization and esteem, as well as at the physiological and safety level. McGregor says this is because Theory Y workers have self-direction and self-control toward goals and want to accept and intentionally seek additional responsibility. They have ambitions and are therefore more likely to realize their potential.