💼 The employees most motivated by money aren’t necessarily the greediest

💼 The employees most motivated by money aren’t necessarily the greediest

Understanding your employees’ and partners’ goals helps the whole team achieve better results. Understanding the purpose behind their motivation can help explain why an employee still isn’t hitting their KPIs even when you’re showering them with money 😭

Meanwhile, in payments, gambling, crypto, and other high-risk sectors, people tend to discuss money without much hesitation.

Rate. Percentage. Bonus. Margin. How much you’ve earned. How much more you could earn.

Because of this, outsiders often see both us and you as people driven entirely by money.

But if you’re entrusted with working with people like this, remember:

Someone’s attitude toward money tells you almost nothing about why they need it.

One person wants to earn another $50,000 to buy a watch.

Another wants their parents to be able to stop working.

A third is paying for a relative’s medical treatment, their children’s education, or effectively supporting several families.

On the surface, the behavior is the same: “I want more money.”

The underlying motivation is completely different.

And that matters for business.

Money doesn’t motivate people on its own. What motivates them is what they can turn it into.

For an employee whose basic needs are covered, an extra bonus might mean a more expensive vacation.

For another, the same bonus means a down payment on an apartment for their parents.

On paper, the company offers them the same reward.

The actual value of that reward is different for each person.

This brings us to an important point:

The most “money-motivated” salesperson, manager, or business owner isn’t always the most selfish person in the room.

Often, the opposite is true.

Responsibility for others can be exactly what pushes someone to:

🤩 put in more work;
🤩 get up to speed in a new niche faster;
🤩 tolerate high levels of uncertainty;
🤩 move from country to country;
🤩 take on more responsibility;
🤩 stay more committed to delivering results.

This is especially clear in industries that outsiders tend to see as cynical.

Someone can spend ten years building a career in gambling, payments, or crypto, while almost everything that gives those ten years meaning lies entirely outside the industry.

Still, that extra drive can come at a high cost.

The more other people depend on your results, the greater the pressure.

And you may start justifying excessive risk with a simple thought:

“I’m not doing this for myself.”

Either way, managers benefit from understanding more than just “How much does this person want to earn?”. They should also know the answer to “Why do they need this money in the first place?”

Because a salary is merely a unit of measurement.

The real motivation lies beyond it. The better you understand it, the more effectively you can build a working relationship with each employee, partner, or supplier.

After all, sometimes the person who talks about money the most is actually earning the least of it for themselves 🤷‍♂️

🌟 PGON – spend crypto in Russia without KYC. QR payments and card withdrawals from a legal entity