By 2014, Gen Y’ers will comprise one-third of the workforce, and their unique motivations can profoundly impact your entire company, regardless of size. What are you doing to retain their top talent and promote excellent performance?

Who is Generation Y?

Also known as “Millenials” or the “Trophy Generation,” Gen Y’ers Tweet in their sleep and are as concerned with putting a Facebook to a name as they are with work-life balance. This group clocks in at about 75-80 million and gravitates to flexibility, consistent feedback, and fairly immediate gratification.

What Gen Y cares about

A recent poll of Xactly’s customer base asked a group of Millennials to identify what they liked about their current comp plans, and how their dream jobs would compensate them. The responses overwhelmingly showed that money isn’t the only driver for Generation Y. Skill acquisition and career advancement are just as important. They want recognition as individuals—in a community that supports them as people and professionals.

Some complain about Generation Y’s need for autonomy and positive affirmation, but there’s no arguing that Millenials are highly motivated and oriented for success.

In fact, recent research from Sibson Consulting has shown that Generation Y performs as well or better than other generations when incentivized correctly, especially in sales positions. The critical factor is the right kind of sales comp automation technologies.

How to incent Gen Y

To be effective, sales compensation must account for the unique motivations of Generation Y. To do this, companies must:

1. Clearly define job roles.
2. Customize your pay methodology and metrics by recognizing individual performance and rewarding desired behavior with life-enhancing experiences.
3. Provide real-time visibility to enhance consistent feedback.
4. Create a collaborative environment by emphasizing the whole package.

What you can expect when you incent Gen Y

At Xactly, our insight into businesses across multiple industries has shown us that companies succeed in direct parallel to how well they incentivize their employees. The more companies understand what makes Generation Y tick, the more they position themselves to win. (Check back soon for our Complete Guide to Incenting Gen Y.)

What has your company done to succeed in motivating Gen Y?

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Posted by Steve De Marco, VP Corporate Sales at Xactly Corporation.