CEOs and Founders: understand what motivates your team

77% of the U.S. workforce say they would work more and better if they felt motivated.

So, whether you want to extract more value from your workforce or you genuinely care for people, motivation will make your team more productive.

Motivation varies from person to person, because of the single fact that we are all different. Some people might be incentivized by their year-end bonus. Other people might be driven by power, the idea of power, or just feeling respected. Some people might be motivated by creating a robust college fund for their kids.

A while back a story was circulating on the internet. A salesman had won the “Best salesman of the year” award in his company. The prize was a fully paid, one-week stay at a five-star resort in a Mexican beach.

When he received the price, he was certainly thankful, but he didn’t seem to be so excited.

Someone in the audience picked it up.

This person spoke with the salesman after the award. The salesman explained that he was happy and thankful to have won, but that the prize was not a motivation for him.

His daughter was sick.

His motivation came from his instinct to protect her: he worked hard to secure his job -by being the best- to save money to treat his daughter’s illness.

The sensitive person that picked this up happened to be a consultant in the company and had a straight link with leadership. He requested they change the prize: the trip for money.

The company did.

The money was put to good use.

The girl recovered.

This man went on to be the most loyal and productive employees in the company, consistently through the years.

Can you imagine the power this company has now that they understand motivation?