Motivators and Desired Company Values of Wood Products Industry Employees: Investigating Generational Differences‪.‬

Abstract Production employees are an important component of the wood product industry's workforce, and yet little research has been conducted to provide a glimpse of what will make them more satisfied and motivated. Past research indicates that motivated employees lead to increased firm performance and productivity, but it is also thought that all persons are not motivated by the same factors. Our project therefore proposed to investigate whether the motivators and preferred company values of wood industry production employees can be segmented based on their membership in a specific age group. Our results indicate that motivators do differ by age, but that preferred values are generally homogeneous. An example is young employees being less motivated by a vacation policy than middle-aged and older employees. Good pay was reported as the most important motivator for all employees, followed by steady employment. Respondents also indicated that their ideal employer would most strongly value secure employment while being fair. Managers can use these results to make changes in such areas as recruiting, communication, and job design.