An expatriate manager asking about Indonesian employees motivation recently sent me the following question:
Can you advise me how I can motivate my employees towards work without giving them financial alteration? Any strategy? I keep trying to explain to them how I work. Why we need to build our company and make money. They never understand WHY they are working and what for. Most of them have no motivation towards how they can improve themselves at work. I believe in this world that ‘motivation’ is the key to having a direct effect on change and a company’s growth and financial outcome in the long term. Any suggestion/comments?
Employee motivation is one of the most important topics in my programs. It goes to the core of many an expatriate manager’s role while working in Indonesia. People are motivated by many different factors, of course. Expatriate managers working here may be motivated by the prospect of future promotion, high living standards, overseas experience, adventure, and many other factors.
Indonesian managers, however, are working in their own country and are working in their own cultural support systems. Motivation differs between Indonesian business culture and standard Western business culture. In Indonesia, where business is always personal, motivation depends strongly, but not unsurprisingly, on more personal factors than those of the West.
Personal Factors Come First
Family, religion, health, and other personal factors often determine an Indonesian manager’s performance on a daily basis. Western preoccupation with money as the prime mover in work performance does not apply well to Indonesia. Of course, Western employees do not just work for the money, either. There are many other factors that determine job satisfaction. However, there is definitely a strong belief in the West that rewarding extra performance by offering second shifts, authorizing overtime payments, increasing appraisal bonuses, and giving other financial incentives are an effective and time-tested method of motivating employees. Unfortunately, that Western belief as applied to Indonesian business culture is one of the main causes of confusion and frustration.
Status Over Performance
In Indonesia, money is, of course, very important. It is closely tied to position, being an indicator of one’s status. However, it is not the sole indicator, nor is it closely tied to one’s job performance in many Indonesian managers’ perceptions.
Status comes from the position. When one has a senior, powerful position, one gains the accoutrements of power. These include company cars and smartphones, golf club memberships, nice houses and vacations, and, of course, money. These indicators of wealth stem and flow from the position, not from the performance.
The connection between visible status and personal success remains strong in Indonesian culture more broadly. Markers of seniority — an assigned parking space, a particular job title, inclusion in certain meetings — can carry motivational weight that a performance bonus paid quietly into a bank account does not. The display of status matters, not merely its financial substance.
Indonesian employees are motivated by the appearance of increasing status. Western ideas of connecting performance to salary are not well understood. Promotion, and therefore increasing wealth and status, is expected by many Indonesian managers to be based on loyalty and seniority rather than work performance alone.
It is worth noting that this dynamic is evolving, particularly among younger Indonesian professionals. Millennials and Gen Z workers — many of whom have studied abroad or trained within multinational organisations — are increasingly familiar with performance-based cultures and may actively seek them out. Expatriate managers in Jakarta’s technology sector, in Bali’s international tourism industry, or in any environment that attracts internationally educated Indonesians may find a more hybrid set of motivational expectations than the traditional model described here. The cultural baseline remains relevant, but it is no longer universal.
Loyalty to a Superior
Indonesian managers are also motivated by their loyalty to a superior. By maintaining and developing personal relationships between superior and subordinate, you develop the basis for the motivation of the employee to contribute more to the success of the company as embodied by his or her superior.
Periodic verbal explanations to your employees about how you work, how you believe the company should be built, and how you believe you can all make more money by working together, will normally not be sufficient motivation to change entrenched behaviour. It will garner words of approval and optimism, but seldom generate change.
Time Orientation and Financial Incentives
Western business people have a very strong future-time sense. Indonesian employees generally have a stronger past- and present-time orientation. The cause and effect of performance bonuses is often only loosely understood in this context. If an Indonesian employee has enough money to cover present expenses and desires, offering more money solely based on future performance will not usually affect motivation. An employee who receives a performance bonus may not sustain that level of output once immediate financial needs are met, which can puzzle managers accustomed to compensation structures designed to drive continuous performance.
Hierarchy and the Question of Why
For many mid-level Indonesian managers, particularly in more traditional or hierarchical organisations, questioning the strategic rationale behind a directive is not culturally expected — that is considered the domain of senior leadership. Asking “why” can itself be read as a challenge to authority rather than intellectual engagement. Expatriate managers who are accustomed to open strategic discussion with their teams may need to adjust both their expectations and their communication style accordingly.
Gengsi and Asal Bapak Senang
In summary, most Indonesian employees are motivated by two factors: Gengsi and Asal Bapak Senang.
Gengsi — loosely translated as “prestige” or “face” — encompasses the social importance of how one is perceived by peers and community. In a workplace context, this means that visible markers of rising status carry genuine motivational power. A new job title, a larger desk, inclusion in a senior meeting, or recognition in front of colleagues can achieve more than a quiet salary adjustment.
Asal Bapak Senang, which translates roughly as “as long as the boss is happy,” describes the cultural tendency to prioritise the appearance of compliance and harmony over direct communication of problems or disagreement. For expatriate managers, this has a practical implication: positive responses and apparent agreement from Indonesian staff do not always mean that a message has been understood, accepted, or acted upon. Building trust and genuine communication takes time and consistent personal investment.
Practical Guidance for Expatriate Managers
An expatriate manager will motivate Indonesian subordinates most effectively by demonstrating a genuine understanding of Indonesian business culture, by offering what Indonesian workplace culture recognises as paternalistic protection — that is, actively showing personal concern for an employee’s welfare, not merely their job performance — and by giving clear, consistent guidance on expected behaviour within the company.
Equally important is providing support and encouragement, including assistance during personal or family financial emergencies, without waiting to be formally asked. In many Indonesian workplaces, a good superior is expected to help subordinates navigate difficult personal circumstances — medical bills, family crises, unexpected hardship. This is not an unusual or informal arrangement; it is a recognised part of the superior-subordinate relationship, and expatriate managers who understand and honour it will find it repaid in loyalty and commitment.
These outward signs of a mature and productive superior-subordinate relationship are all that sophisticated and experienced expatriate managers in Indonesia normally need to display to get the desired effectiveness and productivity from their staff.
A Note on Remote and Hybrid Work
Since 2020, many Indonesian workplaces — particularly in Jakarta and other major cities — have adopted hybrid or remote working arrangements. For expatriate managers, this introduces additional complexity: the relationship-building and visible status signals described in this article are harder to maintain across a screen. Regular one-to-one check-ins, visible recognition in team communications, and making personal welfare enquiries digitally become more important, not less, when face-to-face contact is reduced. The cultural foundations described here do not disappear in a remote environment — they simply require more deliberate effort to honour.
Frequently Asked Questions
What motivates Indonesian employees in the workplace?
Indonesian employees are typically motivated by visible increases in status and by loyalty to a respected superior, rather than by performance-based financial incentives alone. Cultural concepts such as Gengsi (prestige) and Asal Bapak Senang (keeping the boss happy) play a significant role in day-to-day workplace behaviour.
Why don’t performance bonuses work as well in Indonesia?
Indonesian workplace culture tends to have a stronger present-time orientation than Western business culture. An employee with sufficient income to meet current needs may not be strongly motivated by the promise of future financial reward. Status and relationship factors often carry more weight than financial incentives tied to future performance.
How should expatriate managers build relationships with Indonesian staff?
Showing genuine personal interest in employees’ wellbeing, offering support during family or financial difficulties, and giving clear and consistent guidance are more effective than formal performance management systems alone. The superior-subordinate relationship in Indonesia has a personal dimension that Western managers often underestimate and that takes consistent effort to build.
Is Indonesian workplace culture changing?
Yes, particularly among younger professionals and in internationally-oriented industries. Millennial and Gen Z Indonesian employees — especially those with overseas education or experience in multinational companies — may be more comfortable with performance-based cultures. Expatriate managers should assess their specific team and sector rather than applying a single cultural template.
What does Asal Bapak Senang mean?
Asal Bapak Senang is an Indonesian phrase meaning roughly “as long as the boss is happy.” It describes the cultural tendency to prioritise visible harmony and the approval of a superior over direct communication of problems or disagreement. Understanding this dynamic is essential for expatriate managers trying to accurately read team feedback and gauge genuine progress.
What does Gengsi mean in an Indonesian workplace context?
Gengsi refers to prestige, face, or social appearance. In the workplace, it means that how an employee is seen to be progressing — their title, their visible privileges, their standing among colleagues — matters greatly to their motivation and sense of professional worth.
This article was originally contributed by George B. Whitfield III, when he was a Technical Advisor with Executive Orientation Services. It has been editorially updated by the expat.or.id team to reflect developments in Indonesian workplace culture since its original publication.
