Title: The Use of Non-Monetary Motivators in Small Business
Abstract: INTRODUCTION Any business that has employees faces challenges keeping them motivated. Both large and small businesses attempt to use financial incentives to motivate employees to achieve the organization's objectives (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007). One challenge that small businesses face is that they do not have the same ability to pay as large organizations (Milkovich & Newman, 2008). This creates a challenge for small businesses when it comes to attracting and retaining quality employees (Howard, 1998; Howard, 1999). Given this combination of challenges, small business owners need to consider a variety of options when attempting to motivate their workforces. The present paper focuses on non-monetary motivators that small businesses can use to assist them in keeping their employees motivated. The first section of this paper focuses on how small business owners might treat employees. In this section, the importance of getting to know your employees, communication with employees, and fairness and respect towards employees will be addressed. The second section of the paper focuses on developing employees in a small business. The role of performance appraisal will be presented, along with involving your employees in the planning and running of the business. The next section of the paper will focus on rewarding employees in small business. Specifically, the use of non-monetary rewards such as recognition and other rewards that employees' value should not be overlooked. The fourth section of the paper will focus on work schedules. The main focus of this section will be on the benefits of flexible work schedules, and how small business can gain and retain valuable employees while using flexible work schedules. Finally, conclusions of the paper will be presented. TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES It is important for any organization to treat its employees with respect, since it is employees that make the difference between success and failure for most organizations (Howard, 1998). While this might appear to be a simple issue, it is especially important that small business owners capitalize on treating their employees well in order to get the greatest benefit from the employees, as well as increase retention. Treating employees with respect, as well as greeting each employee everyday by saying Good morning, can go a long way to establishing a reputation as a business owner who cares and takes an interest in his or her employees at a personal level, which may be different from what employees have experienced in larger organizations. This can lead to a tremendous value for small businesses. In order to develop this value, a small business owner needs to first get to know his or her employees. Three ways to treat employees well are to get to know your employees, communicate with your employees, and ensure that employees are treated fairly and with respect. Get to know your employees. An opportunity that small businesses have, which large organizations might not have, is that the small business owner can get to know each and every employee. Small business owners can gain a lot of respect by knowing each employee by name, as well as taking a personal interest in each employee. By listening to employees, small business owners not only gain the confidence of their employees, but they also learn what motivates these employees (Howard, 1998). Learning about the skills and abilities that the employees have can help the small business employ these individuals in areas that capitalize on their strengths. Small business owners need to remember that all employees are different from one another. As such, two employees might not value the same things. By getting to know what motivates your employees as individuals, as well as knowing what each employee can do for the small business, small business owners are in a better position to deliver a reward that the employees' value, as well as understanding how employees will respond to changes in the workplace and how these changes should be communicated (Harris & Arendt, 1998). …
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 5
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