Page 396 - Business Principles and Management

project:
MY BUSINESS , INC.

MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES AND CONTROLLING BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
Many small-business owners are very good at performing the work
required to run a new business. The business is their idea, may have been
a lifetime goal, and involves work that they enjoy. The owner is very
willing to work hard and spend long hours each day and week in making
sure the business is successful.
As employees are added, the owner is sometimes disappointed that they
are not as committed to the business and seem less motivated. A whole
new area of management skill is required when the number of employees
starts to increase. The business owner must understand motivation. Em-
ployees who are interested in the business and its work should be hired,
but ongoing strategies to motivate employees will likely be needed as well.
Business owners and managers must develop a theory of motivation and
translate that into effective policies and procedures.
The final step in managing a successful business is to determine if deci-
sions are working well or if changes must be made. To do this, you must
establish standards, collect and study performance information, and take
corrective action if needed. In this part of the project, you will study em-
ployee motivation and controlling activities and develop plans to use those
skills as a business manager.

DATA COLLECTION
1. Survey 10 people who are employed full- or part-time. Ask them to
list the factors related to their work that motivate them to perform
well and the factors that dissatisfy them. Using those factors, classify
each person based on the three motivation theories discussed in this
chapter that best describe their motivation.
2. Identify sources of information on these areas of cost control: inven-
tory, cash and credit management, theft, and personnel health and
safety. Make a list of the resources you locate, along with a brief
description of the information available from each resource.
3. Obtain and study the safety policies of two local businesses. Then
write a safety policy for your employees.

ANALYSIS
1. Assume that you have several employees working for your business.
Identify the factors you would use to motivate them to maintain
effective performance. Estimate the cost of each of the motivation
methods. (Many effective motivation strategies have no real cost.)
2. Develop a standard to evaluate each of the following activities in
your business: (a) daily sales of each product, (b) amount of prod-
uct spoilage and loss, and (c) customer satisfaction. Then describe
the data collection and analysis procedure you would follow to
determine if the standard is being met.

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