Small businesses rely largely on the “next big thing” in order for their business to grow a customer base. Therefore, the small businesses must be innovative in their thinking in order to come up with new ideas. The article, “How to innovate: A step-by-step guide,” starts out by talking about a funeral home director who started up his business by finding out from the customers how their loved ones would like to be honored. In response to this, the funeral home specializes services with anything from transporting the dearly departed person’s Harley Davidson motorcycle to the funeral home or entirely moving the services to places such as golf courses. The article addresses five steps for innovation which I believe go hand-in-hand with the creative decision-making model which I will discuss later. The first step is to “look behind you” meaning that small business owners should take into consideration what those that came before them did to become successful and what the company has done to be successful in the past. The second step is to “lose the routine,” meaning that management and their employees need to live life and have experiences that will open their minds up to new ideas. The third step is to “use the brains you hired”; employees are a huge part of coming up with the ideas for the company and they should be encouraged to do so. The fourth step is to “get cozy with your customers” which means that a small business’ management and employees should develop close relationships with their customers in order to really understand what their needs and wants are. The last two steps include possibly finding a partner to gain ideas and investments from and also learning how to fail quickly. Those two steps allow small businesses to try out more of their ideas without taking on all of the financial pressure that could come with such decisions.
In order for companies to come up with new and exciting ideas that will aid in continued growth, they must use a creative decision-making model. As displayed in Chapter 11 of our textbook, the creative decision-making process has five steps: problem recognition, immersion, incubation, illumination, and verification (and application). The steps of innovation discussed previously come into play with the immersion, incubation, and illumination steps of the creative decision-making process. During immersion, the small business must step out of their normal routine of doing things, look at the history of their company, and gain an understanding of their customers. This process will allow the small business to gain the information they need to solve the problem of dwindling business or the need for a new idea. During illumination, when the problem’s solution comes to light, a small business could use a partner or other outsiders to bounce their ideas off of. The end stage, when verification and application occurs, companies need to be sure to speed up the process in order to “fail quickly.” Spending too much time on an idea that just will not work is a waste of time and extra resources. The small business should quickly move onto starting the process over again.
As far as “using the brains you hired,” employee creativity can be used and improved by methods such as brainstorming, idea quotas, and wildstorming. Most people know what brainstorming is but wildstorming is an interesting method because it allows employees to take the ideas that seem next to impossible and think of ways to make them possible. I also think idea quotas are a good idea because they encourage employees and groups of employees to come up with a large number of ideas before ending the brainstorming process.
I thought all of these ideas for innovation were very interesting and should definitely be taken into consideration when delving into the creative decision-making process. Would you agree? What might you add to make the creative process even better?
Posted By: Brittany Meredith
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Old-Fashion
Could you go without your cell phone or the internet for one whole day? Try running a business with never using them, in fact trying running a farm with no car or electricity. Amos Miller is able to do this with great profitability. If you have not guessed yet Amos is Amish. Mr. Miller was able to turn his dad’s Pennsylvania farm into a 1.8 million dollar national food retailer. The farm is part of the up and growing food industry of nutrient-dense foods. Organic food use to be fad and now nutrient-dense food has taking over the market share. Amos is the main person that is running the show, but needs help from his brother who grows the produce that they ferment and process at the farm. Amos runs this farm with one landline telephone to take orders and relies on FedEx to ship the orders to customers. Miller does not do advertising, but does attend one conference near Chicago, which he hires a non Amish man to drive him there. Amos said that the farm receives regular orders from food cooperatives as far away as Florida and California.
I started to really think about how Amos is able to run such a successful business with very little modern technology. There are plenty farmers around this area that make good money, but not many are able to make 1.8 million dollars. One of the main reasons is that Amos was able to see that nutrient-dense foods were going to take over the market share. He took a big risk and joined the industry. Another reason that I feel Amos was able to become so successful was the ability to self-motivate. With Amos being a big majority of the work force, because he has no luxury items asset him, he must find ways to get motivated every day. He never gets a day off he works 24/7 365 days a year. In most business’s money is get motivator to work hard, which Amos makes a great deal of, but being part of the Amish society and religion their beliefs and values are different. They work hard because that’s the way of life. The article states that Miller said elders in the church worry about the growth of the farm. They discourage him from getting to big because they do not want Amish farmer to be tempted by the marvels of modern technology. I find this to be very different with want is normal in the business society of make as much money as possible. The question that I ask myself is what actually drives Amos to work so hard day in and day out. The main reason I came to find was Amos is motivated by his family well-being and to serve the beliefs of his religion.
I also wanted to talk about all stress that Mr. Miller must be under. I could not imagine trying to run a million dollar business with no technology. I find this almost impossible to do so in the world today. Think of all the orders his must take a day and must use the old fashion way of doing things. Most people look at stress at a bad thing, but Amos is able to use all the stress he is under and use it to make himself a better business owner. He is able to thrive under it and make great decisions.
I feel that small business owners must be able to be great self-motivates and also not fold under stressful situations. There are other key attributes of being a business owner, but I feel these are close to the top or at the top of being successful. If you disagree or have any other import please feel free to give me your opinion about it.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2010/sb2010014_284280_page_2.htm
Team 3
Jeffrey Blankenship
I started to really think about how Amos is able to run such a successful business with very little modern technology. There are plenty farmers around this area that make good money, but not many are able to make 1.8 million dollars. One of the main reasons is that Amos was able to see that nutrient-dense foods were going to take over the market share. He took a big risk and joined the industry. Another reason that I feel Amos was able to become so successful was the ability to self-motivate. With Amos being a big majority of the work force, because he has no luxury items asset him, he must find ways to get motivated every day. He never gets a day off he works 24/7 365 days a year. In most business’s money is get motivator to work hard, which Amos makes a great deal of, but being part of the Amish society and religion their beliefs and values are different. They work hard because that’s the way of life. The article states that Miller said elders in the church worry about the growth of the farm. They discourage him from getting to big because they do not want Amish farmer to be tempted by the marvels of modern technology. I find this to be very different with want is normal in the business society of make as much money as possible. The question that I ask myself is what actually drives Amos to work so hard day in and day out. The main reason I came to find was Amos is motivated by his family well-being and to serve the beliefs of his religion.
I also wanted to talk about all stress that Mr. Miller must be under. I could not imagine trying to run a million dollar business with no technology. I find this almost impossible to do so in the world today. Think of all the orders his must take a day and must use the old fashion way of doing things. Most people look at stress at a bad thing, but Amos is able to use all the stress he is under and use it to make himself a better business owner. He is able to thrive under it and make great decisions.
I feel that small business owners must be able to be great self-motivates and also not fold under stressful situations. There are other key attributes of being a business owner, but I feel these are close to the top or at the top of being successful. If you disagree or have any other import please feel free to give me your opinion about it.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2010/sb2010014_284280_page_2.htm
Team 3
Jeffrey Blankenship
Small Business in a David Vs. Goliath Type Battle
I read a CNN Money article that had three short stories of current small businesses that were putting up a legitimate fight against some bigger, more familiar faces in the industry. One business went from making socks for L.L Bean and Brooks Brothers creating their own brand of tough athletic wear socks that rivaled TIMBERLAND's current athletic socks. Another offered natural and healthier baby food that competed against Gerber. The one I decided to focus on was SimpliSafe and its threat to ADT, the most poplar name in the security industry.
Chad Laurens is the CEO and engineer of the product. The company sells security systems and provides service in the event of an emergency. Chad's system is currently manufactured in-house and is designed to run solely off a wireless network, who uses land lines these days anyway?designed to operate off of wireless networks. The only marketing source Laurens uses is the internet. It's not even really marketed, just operated through their website.
Their are three major differences between the two companies and it's all about the use of their resources. ADT is a much more complex system than SimpliSafe which requires a professional installation service. SimpliSafe uses wireless sensors and the entire system is said to take less than 5 minutes to install. This allows the company to avoid installation charges therefor charging customers half as much as ADT to get started. The company also charges a 1/3rd of ADT's monthly service charge. That adds up to a significant annual saving while without effecting the quality and sense of security. Lastly, the design of the system provides alerts to your mobile phone for no additional charge. Currently, they are working on an app to go with the system that would allow someone to monitor the activity within their house. One of the things that I found surprising was how big this market is. SimpliSafe has doubled, maybe even tripled their sales from the last year to $15 million!
That's just one story of an entrepreneur who took advantage of a fairly apparent opportunity. It wasn't rocket science, making the business model and doing the planning may have been, but the idea wasn't. Chad distinctly differentiated his product while being comparable in quality. In most cases entry barriers would make it hard for the little guys to compete on price but in this case SimpliSafe not only competes but STOMPS on its competitors prices. What this article didn't try to understand was how the company operates in comparison to brand-name counterparts. SimpliSafe likely has a strong commitment to teamwork and the organization from it's employees. It would have been nice if the article focused on how Laurens treated the employees and if they were rewarded for their efforts. It's hard to startup a business as it is, but it has to be that much harder to maintain after the ball starts really rolling. The demand for their product is rising and that brings on a whole new set of responsibilities for the organization. I would be shocked if Chad has gotten as far as he has without having a positive organizational culture. I would assume his employees are motivated and inspired by Chad's current track record. Because who can confidently say that they established an organization from the ground (remember he actually designed the system and currently manufactures it in-house) all the way up to a multi-million dollar success story that competes with some of the industry's biggest names.
Team Three
Sunny Shah
Chad Laurens is the CEO and engineer of the product. The company sells security systems and provides service in the event of an emergency. Chad's system is currently manufactured in-house and is designed to run solely off a wireless network, who uses land lines these days anyway?designed to operate off of wireless networks. The only marketing source Laurens uses is the internet. It's not even really marketed, just operated through their website.
Their are three major differences between the two companies and it's all about the use of their resources. ADT is a much more complex system than SimpliSafe which requires a professional installation service. SimpliSafe uses wireless sensors and the entire system is said to take less than 5 minutes to install. This allows the company to avoid installation charges therefor charging customers half as much as ADT to get started. The company also charges a 1/3rd of ADT's monthly service charge. That adds up to a significant annual saving while without effecting the quality and sense of security. Lastly, the design of the system provides alerts to your mobile phone for no additional charge. Currently, they are working on an app to go with the system that would allow someone to monitor the activity within their house. One of the things that I found surprising was how big this market is. SimpliSafe has doubled, maybe even tripled their sales from the last year to $15 million!
That's just one story of an entrepreneur who took advantage of a fairly apparent opportunity. It wasn't rocket science, making the business model and doing the planning may have been, but the idea wasn't. Chad distinctly differentiated his product while being comparable in quality. In most cases entry barriers would make it hard for the little guys to compete on price but in this case SimpliSafe not only competes but STOMPS on its competitors prices. What this article didn't try to understand was how the company operates in comparison to brand-name counterparts. SimpliSafe likely has a strong commitment to teamwork and the organization from it's employees. It would have been nice if the article focused on how Laurens treated the employees and if they were rewarded for their efforts. It's hard to startup a business as it is, but it has to be that much harder to maintain after the ball starts really rolling. The demand for their product is rising and that brings on a whole new set of responsibilities for the organization. I would be shocked if Chad has gotten as far as he has without having a positive organizational culture. I would assume his employees are motivated and inspired by Chad's current track record. Because who can confidently say that they established an organization from the ground (remember he actually designed the system and currently manufactures it in-house) all the way up to a multi-million dollar success story that competes with some of the industry's biggest names.
Team Three
Sunny Shah
Monday, March 21, 2011
Are you addicted to chaos?
Are you addicted to chaos?
Many small business owners seem to be attached to their computers, cell phones, and always seem to be running around frantically, carrying the weight of their business heavily upon their shoulders. In the article “Three Signs You are Addicted to Chaos”, it addresses just that. It describes three stereotypes of a chaotic business entrepreneur that may prove true for many. These include: their business live revolves around the in-box, they can’t step away from the business, and they are strangely proud they have so little free time.
First, their business revolves around the inbox. Their day is run by the next move they need to make pending on the need from responses in their inbox, PDA, or other communication devices. They are constantly on high alert and have a tendency to have increased levels of stress due to the emphasis they place on the urgency to react to the next message. Stress is a common occurrence in our everyday life and hard to avoid. It is important, however, to recognize this stressor and find a way to manage it. Some ways to manage the stress that comes along with running a small business can be taking your work to a remote area outside of the office. If you find peace at a local coffee shop, take your computer there and work for a portion of the day. Time management can also reduce the stress of having so many demands thrust upon you at once. Paid time off, also known as sabbaticals, can also help. Having such an active lifestyle in the business field can take its toll. It is important that individuals recharge their batteries so they don’t experience job burnout.
Second, many small business leaders feel that if they step away from their office, their business will fall apart. To subside this fear, good communication should be established so that business leaders can leave the office and feel comfortable that those left in charge know the goals to be accomplished. The communication should include coordination from both managers and employees, a transmission of the information or tasks to be completed, and both sides should share their feelings about the topic. Having a set communication process will make communication more open, the organization run more smoothly while managers are away, and business leaders can finally take the time off from work that they need.
Lastly, “free time” is becoming a foreign phrase to these chaotic entrepreneurs. I know I personally have worked for a small business where I have had a boss that seemed like he lived at work. I wondered if he ever had any time for himself or his family. Has anyone else worked for someone and felt the same way? To possibly gain more free time, entrepreneurs and small business owners can have strict criterion when hiring people onto their formal work group. Developing a cohesive work group that is knowledgeable of the goals of the organization will allow small business owners the peace of mind that while they are gone, their team is capable of temporarily running the business. I have had managers put myself in charge along with other select individuals if they had to leave for the day to attend meetings and such. Has anyone had similar experiences? Was everyone able to work together to keep things running smoothly?
article: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/tips/archives/2011/03/three_signs_you_are_addicted_to_chaos.html
Team Three
Danielle Trasatti
Many small business owners seem to be attached to their computers, cell phones, and always seem to be running around frantically, carrying the weight of their business heavily upon their shoulders. In the article “Three Signs You are Addicted to Chaos”, it addresses just that. It describes three stereotypes of a chaotic business entrepreneur that may prove true for many. These include: their business live revolves around the in-box, they can’t step away from the business, and they are strangely proud they have so little free time.
First, their business revolves around the inbox. Their day is run by the next move they need to make pending on the need from responses in their inbox, PDA, or other communication devices. They are constantly on high alert and have a tendency to have increased levels of stress due to the emphasis they place on the urgency to react to the next message. Stress is a common occurrence in our everyday life and hard to avoid. It is important, however, to recognize this stressor and find a way to manage it. Some ways to manage the stress that comes along with running a small business can be taking your work to a remote area outside of the office. If you find peace at a local coffee shop, take your computer there and work for a portion of the day. Time management can also reduce the stress of having so many demands thrust upon you at once. Paid time off, also known as sabbaticals, can also help. Having such an active lifestyle in the business field can take its toll. It is important that individuals recharge their batteries so they don’t experience job burnout.
Second, many small business leaders feel that if they step away from their office, their business will fall apart. To subside this fear, good communication should be established so that business leaders can leave the office and feel comfortable that those left in charge know the goals to be accomplished. The communication should include coordination from both managers and employees, a transmission of the information or tasks to be completed, and both sides should share their feelings about the topic. Having a set communication process will make communication more open, the organization run more smoothly while managers are away, and business leaders can finally take the time off from work that they need.
Lastly, “free time” is becoming a foreign phrase to these chaotic entrepreneurs. I know I personally have worked for a small business where I have had a boss that seemed like he lived at work. I wondered if he ever had any time for himself or his family. Has anyone else worked for someone and felt the same way? To possibly gain more free time, entrepreneurs and small business owners can have strict criterion when hiring people onto their formal work group. Developing a cohesive work group that is knowledgeable of the goals of the organization will allow small business owners the peace of mind that while they are gone, their team is capable of temporarily running the business. I have had managers put myself in charge along with other select individuals if they had to leave for the day to attend meetings and such. Has anyone had similar experiences? Was everyone able to work together to keep things running smoothly?
article: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/tips/archives/2011/03/three_signs_you_are_addicted_to_chaos.html
Team Three
Danielle Trasatti
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Inspiring Ownership Among Employees in a Small Business
The article I read displayed how important the ability to inspire a sense of ownership among employees is, especially in small businesses. The idea is to get employees to buy into what the owner and management is striving for with the business and possess the drive to help achieve such goals. Instilling this passion often makes employees more willing to go beyond their job expectations and collaborate with management. The article identifies a few ways in which management can go about achieving this. First, employees must understand the bigger picture in what the company is hoping to accomplish. Small businesses can make this happen by educating their employees about every part of the business process, allowing them to understand how their role is so crucial to overall success. Second, management should provide incentives for employees that go beyond the norm in their work. The more an employee feels that their work is being recognized, the more likely they are to continue to push for more and better results. Third, management should allow the employees in a small business to know every reason behind company decisions. Employees will in turn be more likely to buy into the ideas even if they may not completely agree with such decisions. Lastly, small businesses must be willing to collaborate on company goals/decisions. If employees have a part in achieving company goals, they will inherently have a feeling of ownership towards the company successes.
I believe that these practices are best achieved with a transformational leader. As Chapter 12 explains, strong leadership is crucial to the success of a company and its employees. Although transformational leadership is a very contemporary approach to leadership, I believe it is especially fitting for small businesses. Several aspects of transformational leadership go hand in hand with the previously mentioned ideas. This type of leader must use inspirational motivation, making sure that the company’s vision is clear to employees and one that makes them willing to work towards such a vision. By using intellectual stimulation, they push employees to go above and beyond company norms. This freedom provides employees incentive to be creative in their ideas; small businesses largely rely on creativity. Individualized consideration, caring for employees’ well-being, also goes a long way in convincing them to work hard for the company. Most importantly, charismatic leaders that make employees believe in them have a very large part in instilling commitment to a small business’ organizational goals.
Transformational leaders have been proven to increase their employees’ feelings of ownership and commitment to their company. It is crucial that every employee in a small business buy into company goals and be willing to put in the hard work to achieve such goals so transformational leadership may be the exact solution to making that happen.
Do you agree with me in the belief that transformational leadership is the key to achieving what the article talks about? Or are there better, more attainable types of leadership that could be enacted?
Posted By: Brittany Meredith
I believe that these practices are best achieved with a transformational leader. As Chapter 12 explains, strong leadership is crucial to the success of a company and its employees. Although transformational leadership is a very contemporary approach to leadership, I believe it is especially fitting for small businesses. Several aspects of transformational leadership go hand in hand with the previously mentioned ideas. This type of leader must use inspirational motivation, making sure that the company’s vision is clear to employees and one that makes them willing to work towards such a vision. By using intellectual stimulation, they push employees to go above and beyond company norms. This freedom provides employees incentive to be creative in their ideas; small businesses largely rely on creativity. Individualized consideration, caring for employees’ well-being, also goes a long way in convincing them to work hard for the company. Most importantly, charismatic leaders that make employees believe in them have a very large part in instilling commitment to a small business’ organizational goals.
Transformational leaders have been proven to increase their employees’ feelings of ownership and commitment to their company. It is crucial that every employee in a small business buy into company goals and be willing to put in the hard work to achieve such goals so transformational leadership may be the exact solution to making that happen.
Do you agree with me in the belief that transformational leadership is the key to achieving what the article talks about? Or are there better, more attainable types of leadership that could be enacted?
Posted By: Brittany Meredith
Friday, March 18, 2011
Telecommuting
The article I read, Telecommuting Is Good for Employees and Employers, claims that telecommuting is a particularly good option for small businesses to conduct day-to-day operations. Telecommuting occurs when employees do their work from home, often sharing their information through various forms of online information sharing technologies. There are several reasons that support telecommuting as a viable option for doing business including job satisfaction, high productivity, employee health, and cost savings for the company.
Job satisfaction is greatly enhanced by telecommuting because it allows for so much flexibility in an employee’s work environment. As described in Chapter 4 of our textbook, job satisfaction is considered to be the general feelings an employee has about their job. Telecommuting increases job satisfaction because it keeps the everyday office stresses such as employee relations and potential interruptions to a minimum. This can be increasingly important in small businesses because of the small work environment and the tendency of employees to know each other’s personal, and professional, business. Additionally, the more satisfied an employee is with their job, the better they will perform in their position.
Non-productive time is essentially eliminated by telecommuting meaning that employees waste less of their time and tend to finish their work quicker. Productivity within the time allotted for work is maximized so small businesses would get more out of their employees. Telecommuting also allows for a larger degree of autonomy at least for the structure in which an employee completes their work. This increases employee effectiveness, motivation to perform well, and overall productivity.
Telecommuting can greatly improve employee health because it keeps each employee secluded if someone becomes ill and therefore manages the spread of illness. Employee health is so important because it has a large effect on absenteeism, or unscheduled absences. Not only does absenteeism cost companies large amounts of money each year, it can have a large effect on work behavior. In a small business setting, each employee is just as crucial to the company’s success as the next. Therefore, by employing “telework” each employee can continue to be productive during their illness without infecting others. A work-life balance is also more easily achieved through telecommuting and decreases potential absenteeism.
In a small business, every penny must be well spent and telecommuting is continually becoming a great way to cut everyday office costs. Not only do companies often get more out of their employee’s time, they save on typical operation costs such as electricity use, heating and air conditioning, and the overall size of the office.
The only drawback that I could see happening if a majority of employees for a small business were to telecommute is a negative effect on company communication. As Chapter 8 identifies, eye contact, body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice all have an impact on the relaying of information. Due to telecommuting commonly being conducted through online interaction, many of these important factors could be lost. A small business may want to encourage telephone conversation and videoconferencing in order to maintain the richness of company information being shared.
In conclusion, I view telecommuting as an affordable and impactful option for any small business as long as it is conducted in the correct way. What do you think? Is telecommuting always a positive experience or would it have too large of a negative effect on a small business’ organizational behavior?
Posted By: Brittany Meredith
Job satisfaction is greatly enhanced by telecommuting because it allows for so much flexibility in an employee’s work environment. As described in Chapter 4 of our textbook, job satisfaction is considered to be the general feelings an employee has about their job. Telecommuting increases job satisfaction because it keeps the everyday office stresses such as employee relations and potential interruptions to a minimum. This can be increasingly important in small businesses because of the small work environment and the tendency of employees to know each other’s personal, and professional, business. Additionally, the more satisfied an employee is with their job, the better they will perform in their position.
Non-productive time is essentially eliminated by telecommuting meaning that employees waste less of their time and tend to finish their work quicker. Productivity within the time allotted for work is maximized so small businesses would get more out of their employees. Telecommuting also allows for a larger degree of autonomy at least for the structure in which an employee completes their work. This increases employee effectiveness, motivation to perform well, and overall productivity.
Telecommuting can greatly improve employee health because it keeps each employee secluded if someone becomes ill and therefore manages the spread of illness. Employee health is so important because it has a large effect on absenteeism, or unscheduled absences. Not only does absenteeism cost companies large amounts of money each year, it can have a large effect on work behavior. In a small business setting, each employee is just as crucial to the company’s success as the next. Therefore, by employing “telework” each employee can continue to be productive during their illness without infecting others. A work-life balance is also more easily achieved through telecommuting and decreases potential absenteeism.
In a small business, every penny must be well spent and telecommuting is continually becoming a great way to cut everyday office costs. Not only do companies often get more out of their employee’s time, they save on typical operation costs such as electricity use, heating and air conditioning, and the overall size of the office.
The only drawback that I could see happening if a majority of employees for a small business were to telecommute is a negative effect on company communication. As Chapter 8 identifies, eye contact, body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice all have an impact on the relaying of information. Due to telecommuting commonly being conducted through online interaction, many of these important factors could be lost. A small business may want to encourage telephone conversation and videoconferencing in order to maintain the richness of company information being shared.
In conclusion, I view telecommuting as an affordable and impactful option for any small business as long as it is conducted in the correct way. What do you think? Is telecommuting always a positive experience or would it have too large of a negative effect on a small business’ organizational behavior?
Posted By: Brittany Meredith
How Can You Help Your Unhappy Employees – and Should You?
This article talks about how according to a recent Accenture survey more than half of employees who responded were dissatisfied with their jobs. The article continues on discussing why they are unhappy:
Why are employees dissatisfied? Top reasons were:
* Low pay (47 percent of women, 44 percent of men);
* Lack of opportunity (36 percent of women, 32 percent of men);
* No chance for career advancement (33 percent of women, 34 percent of men).
This section of the article ties in closely with Chapter 6 of our textbook entitled Designing a Motivating Work Environment. While many corporations will have measures in place to combat such problems stated above, a small business may not have the resources or know-how to defeat these problems.
First, to fight back against the problem involving employees feeling like they are under paid a company needs to look their performance incentive system. They have many options including piece rate systems, individual bonuses, merit pay, sales commissions, awards, team bonuses, gainsharing, profit sharing, and stock options. Many employees only seem to look their hourly wages, but in reality they may be receiving benefits other than actual paycheck. I think the most important thing a company needs to do is use a merit pay system, rewarding the high performing employees is an important factor companies need to take into account. While a company might not be able to afford using a merit pay system they can opt to use a one-time reward such as a bonus in the form a lump sum.
The second reason employees were dissatisfied is due to the lack of opportunity. I think there are three key things a company can do to fight this, such as using job rotation, rob enlargement, and job enrichment. Too often employees will become discouraged if they are stuck doing the same monotonous task day in and day out. Using job rotation, enlargement, and enrichment will benefit both the company and the employee at the same time. The employee will be less likely to get bored on the job and it will lead to a sense of empowerment. The company will benefit because if any employee can't make work on a given day, there will be others who will have the skills to cover for an absent coworker.
Lastly, lack of career advancement was the third factor in job dissatisfaction. Employees can be motivated through performance appraisals and this can lead to their understanding about their lack of promotion. It can help them understand they are adequately placed within the company based on their performance. Personally I worked at a retail store before, and they did not provide any formal feedback, but would often be quick to punish for things policy violations, but never as quick to praise or let you know how you are doing on the job. If a company does not let an employee know how they are performing they will assume they are doing well, but not receiving feedback and will believe they are not eligible for advancement. Another important factor companies need to recognize is setting goals for their employees. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aggressive, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals will help motivate employees and help them advance within the company. Both the employee and company will be able to see how an employee progresses over time and is able to achieve important goal milestones according to whatever the goal is set towards.
It's always important to help keep your employees from becoming unhappy and failing to do so will result in high turnover and unproductive employees. Having unhappy employees will also result in unhappy customers because they are more likely to provide poor service.
Article: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/03/how-can-you-help-your-unhappy-employees-%E2%80%93-and-should-you.html
Zachary Long
Why are employees dissatisfied? Top reasons were:
* Low pay (47 percent of women, 44 percent of men);
* Lack of opportunity (36 percent of women, 32 percent of men);
* No chance for career advancement (33 percent of women, 34 percent of men).
This section of the article ties in closely with Chapter 6 of our textbook entitled Designing a Motivating Work Environment. While many corporations will have measures in place to combat such problems stated above, a small business may not have the resources or know-how to defeat these problems.
First, to fight back against the problem involving employees feeling like they are under paid a company needs to look their performance incentive system. They have many options including piece rate systems, individual bonuses, merit pay, sales commissions, awards, team bonuses, gainsharing, profit sharing, and stock options. Many employees only seem to look their hourly wages, but in reality they may be receiving benefits other than actual paycheck. I think the most important thing a company needs to do is use a merit pay system, rewarding the high performing employees is an important factor companies need to take into account. While a company might not be able to afford using a merit pay system they can opt to use a one-time reward such as a bonus in the form a lump sum.
The second reason employees were dissatisfied is due to the lack of opportunity. I think there are three key things a company can do to fight this, such as using job rotation, rob enlargement, and job enrichment. Too often employees will become discouraged if they are stuck doing the same monotonous task day in and day out. Using job rotation, enlargement, and enrichment will benefit both the company and the employee at the same time. The employee will be less likely to get bored on the job and it will lead to a sense of empowerment. The company will benefit because if any employee can't make work on a given day, there will be others who will have the skills to cover for an absent coworker.
Lastly, lack of career advancement was the third factor in job dissatisfaction. Employees can be motivated through performance appraisals and this can lead to their understanding about their lack of promotion. It can help them understand they are adequately placed within the company based on their performance. Personally I worked at a retail store before, and they did not provide any formal feedback, but would often be quick to punish for things policy violations, but never as quick to praise or let you know how you are doing on the job. If a company does not let an employee know how they are performing they will assume they are doing well, but not receiving feedback and will believe they are not eligible for advancement. Another important factor companies need to recognize is setting goals for their employees. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aggressive, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals will help motivate employees and help them advance within the company. Both the employee and company will be able to see how an employee progresses over time and is able to achieve important goal milestones according to whatever the goal is set towards.
It's always important to help keep your employees from becoming unhappy and failing to do so will result in high turnover and unproductive employees. Having unhappy employees will also result in unhappy customers because they are more likely to provide poor service.
Article: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/03/how-can-you-help-your-unhappy-employees-%E2%80%93-and-should-you.html
Zachary Long
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