ABSTRACT
This chapter looks under the bonnet at what makes people ‘tick’ in the workplace. It begins with a reflection on ‘form follows function’ and proceeds to its successor. ‘form follows emotion’. It considers the well-established ‘hierarchy of needs’ by Maslow and suggests that the hierarchy provides a useful descriptor of needs fulfilment in the contemporary office workscape. Another motivation model based on ERG theory is discussed as an alternative in understanding how the workplace fulfils existence needs, relatedness needs and growth needs.
