Motivating Teams is Not a One Size Fits All Approach

Motivating a team is certainly not easy. That said, key motivational factors like providing empowerment, flexibility, and connecting your staff’s passions to the work, while intentionally avoiding de-motivational pitfalls like poor leadership or lack of growth, can go a long way toward keeping a team engaged and thriving. One singular approach to management is not likely to yield the results you are looking for as a leader. Employees come with individual passions and skillsets. Managers who personalize their management styles to each individual are more likely to achieve better results by meeting employees where they are. As Emily Culp, former CEO of Cover FX, mentioned at Adweek Challenger Brands, “We have to recognize that our employees have different values, different views. So it's critical to create a safe space for them, where they can flourish and therefore help the company continue to grow while being happy.” To investigate how this tailored management approach can be applied to team motivation, we’ve uncovered the key motivational factors by seniority level in a recent survey of 250+ U.S. marketing professionals. Here are four concrete approaches you can take to ensure you are most effectively motivating your team at every stage in their careers. Full findings from the survey can be found here. 1. Ensure Flexibility for Employees at Every Level The common thread amongst all levels is that flexibility stemming from the pandemic is key, which isn’t shocking, considering the overall key motivators we previously identified. There is no doubt that this year has been challenging and difficult in a number of ways, and that no matter where your employees are in their careers, it has impacted each of them differently. Your younger staff could be facing working from home challenges with roommates, loneliness, and/or moving back home with their parents. Your more seasoned team members could be facing home schooling challenges, concerns about the health of elderly parents and/or grieving over the loss of a family member. No matter what your team is facing, providing flexibility during these times is critical. We also suspect this drive for flexibility will persist beyond COVID times, an enduring factor to promote team motivation as the world readjusts to a new home/office hybrid. 2. Give Entry and Junior-Level Team Members a Good Understanding of the Bigger Picture Staff who are newer to the professional world are often given entry-level tasks (data entry, reporting, billing, scheduling, etc.) which can feel meaningless without the appropriate context. It is imperative that leaders do the heavy lifting of connecting these tasks to the bigger picture, and being clear about how employees’ work is supporting the growth of the business. This is best served through objectives and key results (OKR) and/or goal setting with frequent check-ins on progress and redirection if necessary. Regular 1:1s are the best vehicle in ensuring constant and open communication with your team members and clarifying progress or needed improvement against goals. As one Brand Coordinator reported “[1:1s are] a good time to remember the bigger picture and the importance/impact of my work on the company.” 3. Provide Directors with Independence and Recognition As employees ascend the ranks at their companies, the focus generally becomes more strategic in nature. The Director-level position is particularly unique, as not only do they need to set the strategy to drive a successful team and showcase team successes, but there is also a necessity to highlight their own work and leadership. As a result, this group requires very different approaches to motivation than less seasoned staff. This group needs empowerment to make independent decisions for themselves and their teams. This means that leadership should avoid micromanagement and provide the space for Directors to reach their goals using their own judgments and approaches. VPs and above need to listen to their Directors, provide the tools and resources that are being requested, and then provide the space and autonomy for their Directors to take action independently. On the flip side, Directors are the only level who cited needing recognition for their work as a top motivating factor, via promotion, bonus, or praise. This likely stems from their position in the “middle” as they are not only working hard to guide and direct a team of successful professionals, but are also seeking to showcase their value and potential as senior leaders with the company. If you lead a team of Directors, take the time to showcase their work to your own leadership, provide thoughtful and meaningful recognition, consider a growth path to drive success and structure compensation plans that are directly tied to the team’s successes. 4. Allow Senior Leaders Independence and Clarity in Steering the Ship If Directors need empowerment to make independent decisions, it should come as no surprise that VPs and above need the same thing. There is nothing that strips away motivation like being micromanaged or being put under the microscope when you have ascended to the top ranks of leadership at an organization. One of our most interesting findings was that, similar to junior staff, these senior level leaders need clarity on how their work drives the growth of the business. However, the reason for needing this clarity is vastly different. Senior leaders are not working on entry-level tasks, but bear the heavy weight of driving large and often disparate teams with a shared outcome. A lack of clarity at this level could result in severe misalignment and a team rowing in a plethora of directions. Your VP and above layer sets the tone for the team. Giving them clarity on what will drive the business forward and the latitude to direct their teams accordingly will pay dividends in terms of motivated and productive teams. If good leadership consists of a tailored approach to meet your team where they are, then it should come as no surprise that customized motivation for people at different stages of their career is key to driving a successful team. Every life stage offers different challenges, as does every career stage. Providing flexibility to allow for life’s ebbs and flows no matter seniority level will yield motivational dividends. Focus on connecting your junior staff to the bigger picture, rewarding your Directors for work well done and providing your more senior leaders with the empowerment to make decisions and clarity on how to steer the ship. This simple framework of customized approaches by level should set up your team for true success as a motivated and engaged powerhouse. The Secrets on How to Effectively Lead a 1:1

Leadership & Talent

Motivating Teams is Not a One Size Fits All Approach

How to Drive Employee Motivation at Every Level From Entry-Level to Senior Leader

Kenna Ranson

Caroline Giegerich

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