When it comes to motivation, you can focus on job fit or culture fit, or making sure people are using their natural strengths.
When I think about supporting motivation at work, my thoughts go a slightly different direction. What if you demonstrate that others' contributions make a difference? You can do this through empathy. Yes, empathy.
If you want to motivate people,
don't do this.
There are those times when employees are put in a position of dealing with disappointment or being denied an opportunity to contribute. Management calls a project to a halt. A budget cut sends employee's current job assignments into a spin, perhaps impacting the trajectory of their careers. This gnaws
at people. I don't often see attention give to the meaning employees assign to such changes. They end up feeling bad because of what it means to them. They are expected to roll with the punches though. After all, "It's just business."
I was on a project one time that "restarted" seven times.
Near the end the project leader told us to just hang out until he got things figured out. He said that would take, "maybe a month." Fortunately I was in a position to remove myself from the project just then. The seeming self-absorption and the lack of concern for how that decision affected team members still puzzles me twenty years later. Just because it's an old story doesn't mean it doesn't still happen.
Another way to sustain motivation: empathy.
Empathy requires putting yourself in the other person's shoes. I'm not suggesting you apologize, cry or decorate the room for a pity party. But when you are in a decision-making role, start by anticipating how a change might impact others and their noble and very human desire to
contribute.
What would it take to respect their intelligence and dignity? Make the time and effort to engage. Change or disappointment is probably more than "just a business decision" to your employees. Leave them with hope and belief in their own competence. In this way, they can get to the other side of change more easily, and quickly restore their motivation and productivity. (Click here to see more on how to make this happen.) 
