Compensation as a Motivating Factor

In order for most people I know to have any motivation at their occupation, there must be an incentive worth putting forth the effort. For example, this past year my cousin continued the early stages of his career at Northwestern Mutual (a financial advising and insurance company), and struggled to find his “Why?”.

After a few months of quarantine back in 2020, I was applying to multiple companies for internships, and came across Northwestern Mutual. During the initiation process, the main question that our mentees would ask was “Why do you want to work here?”. Of course, most new employees are going to say they are only there for a paycheck. Although I didn’t make the most of my time there, I was able to help my cousin become a financial representative after he mentioned his displeasure at his previous workplace. He had seen from an outside perspective what the business could do for him and his family financially, but was naive to how much internal motivation was needed to achieve that kind of success. After just six months with the company, he began to explain his frustrations with the way he was being compensated.

Even though my cousin was taking great strides and receiving a healthy paycheck every couple of weeks, there was something missing in his demeanor. At the time, he was only allowed to sell insurance products because there are certain qualifications and licenses that are needed to take that next step. Every few days I would hear from him about how he just didn’t know if he had what it took to make it in that industry. We sat down together to explore his options, and noticed that if he were to obtain two more licenses, he would be able to sell a wider variety of products, and therefore increasing his monthly compensation. After our discussion, I noticed a significant increase in the amount of hours he was putting into the business. With his financial goals peaking over the horizon, my cousin put in the work to gain access to a whole new side of the business, which in turn has him motivated to sell and grow his brand/career.