Adding a thought...

One of the things that Chester talked about was how, as a manager, you need to make sure you reward your employees in ways that are actually meaningful/rewarding *to them*, and how these types tie in to that.

For a thinker, one way to reward them is to give them a really interesting, complicated project. I relate to this. From very early on in my career I told people (and meant it!) that all I need to be happy is interesting projects! Give me hard problems to solve, and let me work in peace, without too much bureaucracy or micro-managing or other interpersonal stressors. I'm not super motivated by extra money (though I of course appreciate it!) and I really don't want big awards ceremonies (ick!), and generally don't care about titles/promotions (although again, I see why they're important/useful). All I want is cool, challenging projects that I can really stretch my brain on, and the feeling of achievement when I figure them out!

Other good rewards for thinkers: flex time, conferences, eliminating bureaucracy...

Not sure if that makes sense, or if you relate to it?

For the other types...

- builders: rewards are things like more management responsibilities, allowing them to be a mentor to others, leadership development/opportunities... all of these make me cringe!

- caregivers - rewards are things that allow them to spend more time with their families (better work-life balance, work from home, flex time) and letting them work with new people in other parts of the organization so they can form new relationships. I like the work-life balance, but not for the same reasons (I like it for the freedom it provides and opportunity to pursue hobbies, a caregiver would like it for the chance to care better for their family).

- Achievers - reward by giving them special projects, letting them jump in on a project in crisis to save the day, letting them solve a tough customer problem, letting them lead the creation of a new product/service, letting them lead a team

- Reward-Driven - reward by giving them *stuff* - money, incentives, stock, trips, gifts, prizes because that's how they "keep score", and make a big deal over their achievements, post it everywhere, let everyone know

It's interesting for sure. I really wish more bosses were aware of stuff like this, it seems like management 101. It just strikes me as crazy that I'm the type of person that will twist myself up in to a pretzel to come up with a good solution and do great work, I get very personally invested and work hard to get things done on time, and done well. And my boss would rather have me home, cleaning my house, typing on forums, and eating too much chocolate (!) rather than actually being productive on work-related work! On top of that, I keep hearing that our bigger team is turning away work, because we don't have the bandwidth to handle it!!!