Tesco failing to motivate its young workers

Tesco is faced with a "real problem" in motivating its young staff, the supermarket giant's head of resourcing has told Personnel Today.

Lorna Bryson, who oversees the company's apprenticeship and A-level schemes, admitted that workers aged between 17 and 24 were typically the least motivated.

She added that these workers – often referred to as Generation Y – needed more work from managers to inspire them to progress at the firm.

"We have got a real problem with [motivating] our young people," she said. "We have got to teach our managers in how to manage Generation Y, as they are high-maintenance and needy. We need to hand-hold them, as they absolutely want to know where their career is going."

Bryson added: "Our younger people are the least motivated - it's about how we communicate to them. When I left school, I did whatever my manager asked. They've got some great ideas but we need to get them out of them – we have to understand not one [management approach] fits all."

Nearly 20,000 Tesco employees are between 17-24, compared with 250,000 employees generally. Bryson believed the firm's A-level programme, which starts again this month, will help provide a valuable career path for youngsters, as successful recruits can end up as managers in just 12 months.

She added that teams conducted face-to-face talks with all employees to understand any issues they had.