"Uncle Sam Wants You"

     For this case, it is clear that motivation from the recruiters is a problem as it seems that many of them are unhappy in their position.  Since the current number of recruits is not optimal, it is clear that this issue needs to be addressed.  However, there are several external factors mentioned that are negatively impacting their productivity.  First of all, the army no longer has a draft, so recruiters have to rely soley on volunteers; and as this case mentioned, the current generation does not have a strong sense of civic duty compared to other generations.  Also, those who are actually voluntering are not committing to the army for very long.  Instead, they are serving as much time as they need to accumulate financial and educational benefits and then leaving.  The workforce is also much more educated than it used to be, therefore people are choosing more sophisticated jobs. 

For this case, there were many problems associated with motivation.  The recruiter's job clearly needs to be redesigned, along with adding incentives.  First of all, the amount of hours they are expected to work needs to be decreased dramatically.  Second, I don't think the recruiters should simply be assigned to this position.  As the case pointed out, many of them feel out of place and don't want to be doing this kind of work, instead they want to use the skills they were trained in for the army.  As one recruiter put it, "I'm a soldier not a salesman.  If I wanted to be a salesman I wouldn't have sifned up."  Therefore, I think only those who volunteer should be expected to be recruiters.  However, to attract more volunteers, the army is going to have to greatly increase the incentives for this position.  This includes promotions since it is clear that this is an important incentive to them.  Also, the expectations (quotas) from the chain of command either needs to be readjusted or the way they are communicating with the recruiters and the pressure they are putting on them needs to be re-evaluated.  Many recruiters felt that you can't simply push people to sign up for the army.  The higher-ups need to understand that the recruiters are doing the best they can and pressuring them to sign more people up does not help, instead it provokes resentment.  I also feel that the targeted demographic for recruitees needs to be revisited.  The case mentioned that the recruiters were trying to fill entry level positions because those in college usually self-select.  However, the case also mentioned that one of the reasons its has become harder to recruit people is because the workforce is becoming more educated and those people are not opting to work in the army.  Therefore, I think it makes sense to target this audience by going to colleges as well to recruit.
     
Do you think different people are motivated by different factors?  Is there a way for employers to address these differences in an attempt to motivate more people?