Team Building Question:

How do you treat team members who have reached the salary bar and cannot be promoted to the next level just yet? What do you do to keep them motivated?

The Team Doc Says…

This happens in many organizations due to the workforce getting older and maintaining a large number of veteran team members in the mix.

Take the focus off money. It's a motivator, but short term. Take a look at what the team member values and see what you can do to provide motivation to accommodate those values.

One thing you can do right now is to understand how each team member perceives their fit in your organization. You can find out how your employees feel by asking them:

What do you find most challenging about your work? What aspect of your work provides the most satisfaction? What are the biggest obstacles to completing your work? What resources would make your work easier?

Finding the answers to these questions can help you in nailing down just the right motivational tactic to keep each team member on the right track. Then create action plans

Another option is tapping into the knowledge base of your maturing workforce. One thing you don't want to happen is to let all that knowledge walk out the door when mature team members leave. Consider implementing a "buddy" or mentoring system where mature team members have an opportunity to take a younger team member under their wing and share the intellectual capital in their head. This technique is a win /win for everyone -- the mature team member gets to share all that great information he's stored up for years, the younger team member benefits from a master and the company gets a better employee.