Motivating Generation X Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Motivating Generation X - Essay Example However, how to motivate employees has recently become a hard task for the management of various companies (Allen & Helms, 2002). This is because most of the employees in organizations today are of the generation X. The generation X is made up of people born between 1960s and the 1980s. They have grown up under very different values from the ones of those in generation Y. For example, this generation has grown up seeing their parents go to work all day and all night only for then to be retrenched after thirty years of faithful service. For them now, job security does not matter anymore they only see each job opportunity to advance their careers so they will always be hopping from company to company in search of greener pastures (Dewhurst, Guthridge, & Mohr, 2010). This, therefore, means that in order to retain generation X. Managers will always have to offer very attractive incentives. By incentives here, I mean that all forms of financial returns and tangible benefits received by an employee as part of the employment relationship. It can be divided into two parts, monetary compensation and non-monetary compensation. ... Most of them are well conversant with the core jobs that help an organization achieve very high profits. They also usually have expertise in the core units in a company. The core units are those that bring most sales and are most crucial to the successful running of business in an organization. For example, a well motivated sales team will increase turnover for the company. Other departments responsible for smooth running of operations in a company include IT, Finance department among others (Dunham, 2003). Management could also motivate the generation X using other financial forms of motivation other than an attractive salary. This could be a bonus which is mainly an incentive given to reward good performance purchase of shares in a company at a fixed price, and when employees feel some sense of ownership in a company they will stay longer and work more as they understand the benefits involved should the company make high profits. Generation X, having grown up in an era where there parents were always busy, they did not somehow get sufficient parental love. They, therefore, do not want the same to happen to their families and, therefore, in most cases will always choose their families over work. Management should, therefore, ensure that on the remuneration package, it also offers sufficient non-monetary compensation. Bhatia (2010) defines non-monetary motivation as benefits employees receive other than the normal monetary compensation package to boost employee morale. Non-monetary compensation includes any benefit received by an employee from an employer that is non-financial but satisfying. They include but not limited to opportunity for growth, flexible hours, recognition and praise, friendships