The relationship between people and their work environment affect motivation to work and perform. The work environment includes the organizational culture, management style, goals and values, job demands and support, incentives and rewards, and much more. Together, these aspects form the contextual level and interact at the situational level. Feedback and consequences at the situational level either improve or reduce individual and collective autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Performance can be improved by focusing on motivation. Research studies in the areas of performance and motivation look at contributing factors. The potential for change in motivation may take place in the work environment and within the individual, or even more powerfully by addressing both levels of motivation.

When it comes to sustainable development, doing the right thing pays off. Research studies have correlated positive business measures for companies that make investments in sustainable strategies related to corporate real estate and sustainable development. This article explores the scope of sustainability and the short‐ and long‐term strategies that corporations identify, plan, implement, and evaluate. The results go beyond profit, affecting people and the planet with improved air quality, water savings, reduced carbon emissions, and operational cost savings. Corporations should begin sustainable strategies by analyzing their present state and carbon footprint to establish baseline data.

There are compelling financial and quality‐of‐life reasons to care about employee motivation. This two‐part article surveys the complexities of motivation through the lens of the Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. Based on self‐determination theory, motivation is examined at situational, contextual, and global levels. The situations that people encounter, the feedback they receive, and the consequences derived from each situation impact an individual's autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Since there is a recursive impact between levels, motivation may be improved through positive feedback and consequences at the situational level. Furthermore, individuals may be able to change their perspective to become more resilient in less motivating situations. Part one of this article focuses on individual performance. Part two, focusing on organizations, will be published in the next issue.