Motivation is a key factor that promotes construction productivity. In construction domain,

manpower plays a major role in the success of the projects, as it relies on their efficient

performance. Therefore, it is an essential issue to study the factors that motivate manpower in

construction projects. The objectives of this paper are to identify the key manpower motivation

factors in the Egyptian construction projects and finally identify which motivation theory fits

the culture of the Egyptian manpower. From the literature review, 28 factors were identified

and these factors are reduced to 14 factors after brain storming sessions. The 14 factors were

grouped into four categories: management, development opportunities, financial, and work

climate, and also classified into intrinsic and extrinsic factors. A questionnaire was designed to

collect data from engineers and labors. From data analysis the results revealed that the five key

factors affecting engineers and labor represented 40% and 38% of the total factors respectively.

Engineers and labors both have four key factors in common: good salary, bonuses,

achievement, and recognition. But, the fifth factor is advancement and good supervision

respectively. by taking into account the key motivation factors ranking, the Egyptian manpower

is more relevant to the Herzberg's motivation theory, and more related to extrinsic factors. This

finding can be used to assess construction manpower's motivation, which will be helpful in the

development of human resource policies and, as a result, productivity enhances.