From the business coach: How to motivate anyone

Do you have employees you just flat out don’t understand?

Consider the business manager who was trying to increase retail sales, a small sideline to her core business. She came up with a great plan — or so she thought — to encourage competition within her staff by promising bonuses to the clerk who made the most sales each month.

Her employees, women who worked to supplement their post-retirement income, listened to her pep talk, nodded politely and quietly went back to their tasks.

Several days later, one of her employees asked for a chat.

“We’ve been thinking,” said the group’s spokesman. “We’ll do our best to sell more, but we don’t want to compete against each other. We’re all friends and we don’t want to create any problems. Is that OK?”

It wasn’t that these women couldn’t use the money; money is tight for everyone these days. It’s just that they valued their relationships more than they were motivated by cash.

The manager – a Baby Boomer, a full generation younger than her staff – was astounded. Wasn’t everyone chasing the almighty dollar?

The answer was “no.”

The right approach to sales goals

So she went back to the drawing board and came up with a solution that met her needs and motivated the staff: Her new plan rewarded all her employees when they reached a certain sales goal each month. She put money into an account for them to use as they saw fit…as a group.

The more they exceeded their goals, the more bonus money she contributed. They could decide among themselves how they’d spend it — as it came in, treating themselves to lunch? Or maybe let it grow for a few months for a special dinner or a shopping trip?

Her new plan honored the importance of their relationships and her so-called “Greatest Generation” staff was happy to work – and be rewarded – as a team, toward a common goal.

It was the motivation her staff needed…and she boss got what she wanted, too.

Motivating workers is one of the most difficult jobs on a manager’s to-do list, and many times what works — and what doesn’t — falls along generational lines.

Boomer managers don’t have a lot of patience for the working styles of younger generations.  Gen X’ers especially drive them nuts.

Workers born between 1965 and 1979 were the first latch-key kids. They have experienced, first hand, how “nose to the grindstone,” corporate-ladder climbing affected their parents and their home lives.

And they don’t want any part of it. They insist on having a personal life; if you want to motivate them, offer them workplace flexibility, like more time off or the ability to create their own hours.

Show you value them by giving them all the latest tech toys you can provide.

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, were born between 1980 and 1994. They are more “touchy-feely” than previous generations.

These employees want to grow, learn and make a difference. They want to have an impact not just in the workplace, but in the world…a world much smaller, thanks to the Internet, than the Boomers wanted to change.

And like the Greatest Generation, Millennials are less motivated by money than by having a full and satisfying personal life. Get their best by supporting their involvement in the causes they value. Show an interest in their personal goals and clearly show they mesh with company goals.

These are broad strokes, of course, and there always will be exceptions.

But if you use these generalities as a starting point to discover how to get the most from your workforce, you’ll grow them and your business at the same time.

What have you learned when it comes to motivating across the generations? Please add in the comments.