Many business owners find that nobody really cares about their business as much as they do. For many people, their jobs are just that -- jobs. They go there to work (often times they are late), put on a fake smile to get by with their customer service, don't put much effort into their side duties, and clock out to go home hoping to forget about their mundane job. Employers struggle with motivating people the right way. Many workers feel that their employers expect a lot from them despite the low wages they are making.
From my own personal experience, I have done a lot of job-hopping. I am a very hard worker and I definitely go above and beyond and always seek to do whatever I can to help out, but in the end, if there is a different job that works out to be a better work environment, or even offers better pay and better perks, I will quickly throw in my resignation letter and hop over to take that better opportunity. I am not the only one, either. I have noticed that where there are better incentives, there are better workers. Hard workers like to feel appreciated, and not only that, if a person has the motivation to work as hard as they do, they certainly have the motivation to seek a better job. Possibly the question that goes through the mind of a hard worker subconsciously "what is my incentive to stay at this job?"
I believe that the more the employee feels cared about, the more the employee will care about the company. If the employee cares about the company, they will take up extra duties and have that "genuine smile" for the customer that employers are always looking for. But how exactly can an employee feel cared about? Of course, you could raise the pay of the employee. In the food industry, servers would probably arrive to work early if they were to be provided a meal before their shift, for example. This would lower company theft, the employees would be on time, and they would remain focused with their tasks. There are many ways to accommodate the workers to influence them to really care about the company and develop company loyalty.
Person 1: Restaurant owner 4 years
How well do you feel employees interact with customers? Would you say they have good customer service?
"Well, just like anything, it could be better. We get good positive feedback from our customers and normally don't see too big of issues, but things do happen where we would have to reprimand an employee for something."
Would you say employees go above and beyond and take care of all of their duties and responsibilities and more?
"I wouldn't say so, but there are some exceptions. Many times employees will leave without finishing their duties, and rarely employees will do anything beyond what they are told to do, but like I said, there are exceptions. The kitchen will be left a mess a lot of the time."
Are employees usually on time for their shifts? Do employees ever get caught stealing food or eating in the kitchen?
"I often catch employees eating through the cameras. I have a policy that if a meal doesn't sell, the employee can eat it if they purchased the meal. But I see many of them eating it anyway. I don't want servers to put in a fake order only to eat it on the company's dime. Employees are usually on time, no more than ten minutes later than the beginning of their shift."
Do you feel that employees care about the restaurant as much as you do?
"No, definitely not. If they did, they place would always be clean."
Do you feel that if employees were paid more and provided employee meals, they would feel more willing to do and care more for the company?
"I doubt it. To them, it's just a job. If they are performing poorly at their job, I can just replace them."
What perks do you offer your employees that would tempt them to stay and care for your business more than going down the street to work for someone else?
"Employees here get a 20% discount on their food, and they get pretty good tips being that we are in a financially well-off area in town."
Person 2: Grocery owner 10+ years
How well do you feel employees interact with customers? Would you say they have good customer service?
"I think so. They ask if the customer needs anything, help them find what they're looking for, and continue on with their duties."
Would you say employees go above and beyond and take care of all of their duties and responsibilities and more?
"It's a hit or miss. Most only do what they have to do, but there are those that will go a little further."
Are employees usually on time for their shifts? Do employees ever get caught stealing food or eating in the kitchen?
"Usually they're on time. We sometimes get those that don't show up. We don't usually have employees opening up inventory or anything, but if something is being prepared in the kitchen, they will nibble after anything they can find."
Do you feel that employees care about the store as much as you do?
"I don't think anyone really cares as much about a business as the owner does."
Do you feel that if employees were given more incentives, they would feel more willing to do and care more for the company?
Owner: "What sort of incentives are you talking about?"
Me: "For example, a weekly grocery allowance of $80-100 as opposed to just discounting them, or providing them a free meal if they show up thirty minutes early for their shift."
Owner: "I haven't really thought of an allowance type of idea, but I suppose it's worth thinking about.
What perks do you offer your employees that would tempt them to stay and care for your business more than going down the street to work for someone else?
"Employees get 15% off of all of their grocery purchases, and that includes anything that was prepared in the kitchen."
Person 3: Restaurant owner 10+ years
How well do you feel employees interact with customers? Would you say they have good customer service?
"I commend my employees here for having excellent customer service. I don't really receive any complaints about them."
Would you say employees go above and beyond and take care of all of their duties and responsibilities and more?
"I'd say so for the most part. They take pretty good initiative and get things done that need attention. We have a pretty organised system of operations here, too."
Are employees usually on time for their shifts? Do employees ever get caught stealing food or eating in the kitchen?
"Employees are usually punctual. We take timeliness very seriously here, so if there is an employee that is consistently late, we usually send them packing. I don't typically catch any employees stealing food, but sometimes I'll offer flatbread or something if we have a lot of it prepared."
Do you feel that employees care about the restaurant as much as you do?
"No, but they care enough. The loyal ones, at least. It's a revolving door, so if there is an employee that isn't putting in their fair share, we will seek out a potential that is wanting it more."
Do you feel that if employees were given more incentives, they would feel more willing to do and care more for the company?
"I think the employees are provided enough. Things usually run pretty smoothly here."
What perks do you offer your employees that would tempt them to stay and care for your business more than going down the street to work for someone else?
"Employees can get 50% off of their meal with a guest, so when you weigh in the expensive dishes that we serve, it's a pretty good deal. We also hand out paychecks every week instead of every two weeks, so employees appreciate that a lot more too."
Reflection
After interviewing these business owners, it seems that the first two don't quite weigh in their employees enough. The second restaurant owner seemed to have a very clean establishment with a motivated staff, so whatever is going on there must be working, but the first two places just seem to have that "typical work-staff" that is there to work and nothing more.
Conclusion
After interviewing these business owners, I think that providing employees with good perks and incentives is very important to helping them be motivated to provide good customer service and quality work for the companies. As seen with person 3, the staff seems to be much more diligent in their work. It could be a coincidence that because they offer better perks for their workers, it resulted in better quality work. However, I think there is a link in that. Employees there seem to be cared for.
