·no amount of money will give them complete happiness. Do they feel like they're contributing to the company? Do they feel like they can move up?" To answer those questions, General Mills holds focus meetings two or three times a year with its 1,050 salespeople. Regional managers talk with each of their representatives to find out how things are going, whether they have the support and resources they need, and how they are doing in meeting their own goals. The managers then report back to senior managers detailing each person's potential, where they need to improve, and how they can do it. This kind of attention to employee motivation allows them to plan their careers in cooperation with the company.
Compensation is an important motivator, and General Mills structures their pay plan to motivate the top performers. And, at the same time, the salary is in line with what the company is trying to do as a whole. If repeat business seems to be the most important thing, salespeople are not rewarded so highly for bringing in new accounts. Medtronic also rewards more highly for sustained accounts, as in their industry (medical supplies) solid customer relationships are everything. Their salespeople do not do a lot of new presentations, but they do develop very strong technical, consultive relationships with the health care professionals who are existing customers.
Medtronic rewards salespeople who stay with the company a long time. Those long-time salespeople receive stock options, and they are paid on a salary plus commission basis that is somewhat flexible, depending on market conditions. The sales representatives are given high incentives every year and they are expected to meet their goals. They usually do. For Medtronic, retention of the best people is very high priority.
Money is not the only motivator. A positive, motivational culture filters through the company and is felt by the customers. Reagan Lancaster, s...