Intrinsic motivation has become an important phenomenon, especially when considering
that anyone who is responsible for the supervision of employees engaged in work duties,
needs to be aware that some people participate more out of interest in the task than others
do. Thus, getting to know employees' interests helps management in job structuring as well
as in assigning the right people to different project assignments. Intrinsic motivation is
experienced when a person is moved to act for the 'fun'or challenge entailed rather

This paper seeks to establish the relationships between three job characteristics constructs,
namely work engagement, intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction in a workplace notorious
for discord and conflict between workers and employers. A quantitative methodology was
adopted using a crosssectional survey. Respondents were selected from the workers at a
mining company, with a final sample of 156 employees participating in the study. The
Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Intrinsic Motivation Inventory and the Minnesota Job …