Total Quality Management (TQM) has been implemented in diverse industries globally, anticipating performance improvements. Among the plethora of research supporting the success of TQM, there are controversial reports claiming failures of TQM. Employee work attitudes arising as the immediate outcomes of TQM have been reported and have been conceptualised as mediators. The search for factors influencing failures of TQM has not been conclusive and there are certain contexts in which the phenomenon has not been tested. Furthermore, there is a paucity of studies relating to employee work attitudes and their mediating effect in TQM domain. This paper aims to determine the relationships between people-related TQM, intrinsic motivation and quality performance and the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation in the Sri Lankan apparel industry. Analysis of the data obtained from a sample of 566 machine operator employees using Structural Equation Modelling revealed that people-related TQM practices did not influence intrinsic motivation or quality performance. Intrinsic motivation did not exert any mediating effect in the study context. Among the PTQM practices, team work, training and employee involvement were significant drivers of intrinsic motivation and quality performance while top management commitment and employee empowerment were not.