Many companies depend on sales during the holiday season to balance their books for the entire fiscal year. As a manager who is directly responsible for company sales, motivating part-time and temporary employees during this busy season can be a challenge. Many managers, who have made consumer sales their career find themselves in the challenging position of depending on a sales staff comprised of hourly employees who are only working for the paycheck and have no intentions of making their current “job” a career.

So how do you motivate a staff who is not motivated by career advancement? As a manager, one needs to understand their employees and what motivates each person as an individual. No two people are alike, therefore no two people can be managed the same.

The holiday season is a busy time of year, but it is still important to sit down for at least ten minutes and get to know everyone you work with. As managers, sometimes we assign tasks and responsibilities without thinking about the person we are delegating to. Some projects and responsibilities can be done with more success by the right person, rather than the person who might seem to be the best fit. These are the questions every manager should be able to answer about members of his/her staff:

What are his/her long-term career goals?

Is s/he working here to start a career or earn extra money? Extra money for college? Is this a second job?

What is his/her home situation? Does s/he have to leave work at a certain time to pick up kids? Does s/he have a working spouse and children? *Remember, this is not negative information; knowing about home life can help managers assign the right projects to employees as well as help schedule the right shifts.

If a manager takes the time to learn about the employees around him/her then it makes managing each person that much easier.

Stay tuned! My next entry will talk about how to have fun during this stressful and busy sales season!