Excellence-- Motivation at Aerotek

            Aerotek’s ability to motivate their employees to get the job done efficiently is another reason that they stand out amongst their competitors.  They are a staffing agency which is required to call potential employees that clients need and get them to be hired.  This can be considered a monotonous job which is why motivation is so important to managers in the company to get their employees to work hard.  The two main motivation tactics that Aeortek uses are to reward employees due to their performance and to remind them that they are doing a great thing by helping people find jobs in these tough economic times. 

            One of Aerotek’s key programs is their variable pay reward programs.  They are focused heavily on sales, commissions, and incentives to help motivate their employees.  The opportunities are there for employees to move from a recruiter to an account manager.  According to Maria Ciambotti, an account manager with Aerotek, “the fact that I could be rewarded through my efforts as a recruiter and that there was a clear path for me to progress forward in the company helped motivate me to do my best every day.”  Aeortek uses merit based pay to reward employees for individual performance based on performance appraisal ratings.  This is an advantage because people thought to be high performers can be given bigger raises.  Also, the higher performers will make more money through commissions. 

            Along with these financial incentives, Aerotek offers great intrinsic rewards such as Employee recognition programs.  When an employee does well, their team and managers congratulate them and make them feel important.  When an employee’s effort is appreciated, they are more likely to be satisfied in their job and do great work.  Another unique benefit that is offered through Aerotek is an industry leading flexible benefit program.  Consistent with expectancy theory’s thesis that organizational rewards should be linked to each individual employee’s goals, flexible benefits individualize rewards by allowing each employee to choose their compensation package (Robbins 103).   These rewards that make employees feel appreciated for the great work that they do helps to motivate them to do their best day in and day out.

            Another unique motivation tactic that Aerotek utilizes is to make a point to tell employees the benefits that they are providing to their clients.  They are helping people, some of which are in desperate need, to find a job in these tough economic times.  Ryan Fries, a director of business operations, commented to us how great it feels to know that you are helping people begin a path towards a stable path in their life.  Helping these people by finding them jobs really helps motivate all of us to keep on going to help the community.  This technique combined with the above motivation tactics allows Aerotek to get the best out of their employees and also allows their employees to be satisfied at work.  This makes Aerotek positively deviant in the staffing industry in which some other companies may not be able to motivate their employees as well.