How to Motivate and Incentivize Millennials

I'm actually not a car guy. I manage a tattoo shop. And I was wondering, you know, in the modern age, when we're trying to hire, you know, new people, millennials nowadays are more concerned about quality of life and less about money. So, you know, we have an incentive program to try, you know, where people can earn more. But if money isn't appealing, how do you attract younger people to work for you by using that angle. Thanks. Love the show. Been a huge fan. Saw you in business. Outlaws as well. That's how I found you. Well, have a great day.

So what do you think about that, Michelle?

Well, I think that that's a very fair and valid question. And even within the context of the pandemic, I mean, we have all changed to an extent. I recently heard a quote that really resonated with me. It was from an unknown author, but it said that we've all weathered the same storm, but we're not in the same boat. And so.

That really resonated with me.

Some people really use the pandemic as an opportunity to find a new job or to just relax and get a tan by their pool while other people were trying to just fill the holes of their sinking boat and figure out where they were going to get their next meal. And so that just completely resonated with me. But I think it applies to this question because we have to take that into consideration. We are all coming back different in some way, shape or form. Whether it's for the better or for the worse, we are coming back different. And so the things that engage us might be different as well. And although money may not be a motivating factor for some, being able to have certain experiences probably motivates people to work. And so usually you need money to be able to do those things. But it's more than that because we can look at specific generations, but each person has a different experience with their world and therefore are going to be motivated by different things. And so what I would say to that is, first and foremost, it's really important to understand.

Some of the commonalities that come out of all generations if we have to spend our time at work. However, whether you're working a 40 hour job or it's part time, or you're working 60 hours a week, we have to spend a significant amount of our life working. And so it's important that people understand why they're doing what they're doing. And if you're the leader of that group of people or if you are the owner of that shop, it's really important to make sure that you understand what type of experiences your employees need and want. Because ultimately their experience will impact how they feel about your organization. And how they feel about your organization will dictate what they actually do. Right. So if you need them to upsell customers, if that's the angle that you're going for, if they don't feel connected to your workplace in some way, shape or form, they're not going to feel very inclined to do that. If they don't understand the purpose of your organization, they're not going to feel really motivated to be able to do what it is that you want them to do. And ultimately that will impact the results that you get. And so when you think about what motivates an employee and recognize that it's different for every person, it's important, really, really the job of the leader or the business owner to learn about that, to understand what drives people to perform. And you do that by learning about them, understanding what they hope to get out of the organization that they're working for, understand what they need to have happen in order for them to get what they want to get out of that organization. Because those are the things that make people feel either connected or disconnected. And if you have an employee that's disconnected, they're not going to be motivated to do the things that you want them to do. So then you have to go down another path. Whether it be terminating the employee or writing the employee up, you have to go down a path that will make people feel even worse about the organization. So it's always important to get that information on the front end. So that way you know what you need to do as a leader or as a business owner to motivate that employee. And then they know what they need to do in order for them to be satisfied at their employment.

Yeah. So.

I think that.

A couple things are missed. And I've been in industries and markets where the employees weren't necessarily motivated by money, but they were motivated by having a clear career path and having a boss that was genuinely interested in, in them and their career path. And so, like in a lot of studies that I've read, the. One of the reasons for turnover in the first two years of employment is they didn't see a clear career path. And that comes up before money. Money is like fourth or fifth on the list. And so you know them, them not believing that the, that their boss or the owner of the company is vested in them personally, as far as this is somewhere where they could grow and Grow in the sense of what they think is important for growth. Right. Like if you're working in a tattoo shop, maybe your ambition isn't to be a tattoo artist, maybe it's to own a tattoo shop. And so it could be different. And understanding that, and then also understanding that if you can create a scenario where that work becomes a part of their identity, then then you have them. Right? So if you're running a tattoo.

Comments and likes, so if they're putting something out there and they're getting recognized in a positive way for that, they, then that will become a part of their identity and then they will want to have more of that. And so I think that.

As far as industries go, part of marketing now is experiences and creating scenarios where customers can take pictures and post and share and providing opportunities for them to get attention in the social media realm is just as important for customers as it is for employees in a lot of ways. But that's generational, right?

Yeah, it can absolutely be generational. You know, if you're, if you're hiring someone that doesn't fall into the Gen Z or the millennial category, they might not be very interested with sharing their experiences with the world. But either way, when people leave your place of employment, they're talking about you. So the question you have to ask yourself is what are they saying and what do you want them to say? And, and are you creating the experiences that work, that align to the things that you want them to say when they leave your place of business? We've changed. And people that fall into some of the older generations think that they can do what they did 25, 30 years ago and get the same result. And unfortunately, you can't. People don't respond to authoritative dictatorships anymore. They will look for something else and then they'll tell everyone why they looked for something else. And so it's really important to make sure that we take more of a collaborative approach and ask people for their opinions and ask people what they think as you are making decisions as the business owner. Because when you get their feedback and their buy in, they feel like that they're more than just your employee. Right. They're more than just the results that they push out. They actually are a significant contributor to the direction in which the organization goes. And so some of the older generations, it's hard for them to wrap their brain around that because it takes a little bit more time. It's easier. It feels like it's easier as a leader or a business owner to say, I need you to do this, I need you to do it now. And if you don't, this is what's going to happen. And it feels like that's easier to do. But as a result of taking that approach, you have higher turnover. You have people that don't have good experiences. You have people that are leaving your organization and telling everybody along the way what they feel about you and your place of employment. And so it's so important that even though it feels like it takes more time to have that collaborative approach within your organization, even though that feels like, man, that takes a lot of time, you reap the benefits on and on as a result of doing that. So taking that time in the front end significantly reduces the amount of time that you have to put in in the back end. And now you have an employee that not only is having great experiences, which naturally, when you have a great experience at work, it's going to increase how motivated you are to go there. And but in addition to that, you have an employee that's sharing their experiences with other people, which now makes you have more positive brand recognition as a result of that.

Thanks so much for watching this clip of Service Driving Revolution. We're uploading new stuff every day, so make sure you subscribe and click the bell icon so you don't miss out. If you have a question you'd like us to answer on the show, call 8333 Ask SDR and we'll answer your question on the show. That's 8333 Ask SDR. For special deals on our books and training, head over to offers.chriscollinsinc.com that's offers.chriscollinsInc.com I'm Chris Collins and I'll see you in the next video.