In my experience, everyone is motivated by different things.  In order to effectively manage people in any role, you have to first identify the key motivating factor for each individual.   There are all kinds of ideas and programs available to help managers motivate their teams but I think you have to back up first in order for any of these to work.  If you don’t have a clear understanding of what motivates each employee, how can you determine which program or idea will be effective?  In fact, if you don’t understand the individual, there is a good chance the program will actually de-motivate your workers.

Here are some examples of different drivers you will see in each individual employee that can help you determine how to effectively motivate them.

Accomplishment:  These employees are motivated from within and respond to the satisfaction of achieving their goals.  They will assess their job requirements, analyze what they need to do to be a valuable employee and usually try to go above and beyond. They will stay with an organization as long as it is realistic that they can reach that sense of accomplishment.  They will probably not be very responsive to outside influences such as contests and awards.

Challenge:  These employees love to learn and grow.  They are probably easily bored and once they have mastered their job, they will move on if new challenges are not offered to them.  These employees are more likely to stay in their roles if there is an opportunity for advancement.

Recognition:  These employees strive to be recognized for their contributions.  This could be as simple as a mention in the corporate newsletter or a company-wide email noting their accomplishments.  If they feel their successes are not noticed, they will go work somewhere where they will be noticed.

Compensation:  These employees are driven by a bigger paycheck.  Bonuses, raises, gift cards, and other monetary results for their efforts will keep them happy and performing. 

Independence:  These employees are driven to perform by the knowledge that if they do, they will earn more freedom.  They will stay with a company who not only recognizes their efforts but rewards them by leaving them alone to do their jobs.  They will leave an organization where they feel micro-managed.

These are just a few examples of the many personalities that make up your team of employees.  Most people are motivated by a combination of these factors but you can see how if you happen to have a team who is mostly made up of people motivated by compensation, putting together a program that promises an article on the company intranet is not going to do much in getting your team to want to achieve their goals.

In some cases, you can hinder the performance of your employees.  If you have a team made up of people who want to be challenged and you continually reward them with time off instead, this could de-motivate them.  Why would they want to work hard if the effect is that they get to coast?

There is so much talk surrounding the implementation of programs to optimize your workforce but I challenge that you must KNOW your workforce first.  If you don’t assess the personalities involved you could wind up implementing programs that could ultimately cause your top talent to go elsewhere.