Core Employee Qualities / Characteristics
WHO ARE OUR CORE EMPLOYEES
The core employees we focus on are salesmen and factory workers. The culture of this business values and promotes employee development and leadership excellence. All employees must be subject matter experts and have experience in high-volume production. The most important factors for these employees are motivation, communication, and competence.
MOTIVATION IS ESSENTIAL
Why do we need motivated employees? The answer is survival (Smith, 1994). Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations survive and are more productive. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. With the expansion of the retail industry, there comes into play the issue of how retailers are striving to capture and retain their best staffs. The effort and contribution of their employees is the key feature to the competitive advantage and business success of the firm (Bent & Freathy, 1997). In any institution, whether it is in the retail industry or any other industry, it is important for the management to increase workers’ productivity by allowing workers to achieve their maximum potential. Keeping sales people inspired is one of the most difficult tasks faced by retail organizations. Since salespeople deal directly with the customers, their attitudes, behaviors, and rapport with the customers determine whether or not those customers become loyal to the organization. Salary seems to play the largest role in employee motivation. Studies generally find that job satisfaction is linked to salary. The more money an employee makes, the easier it is for them to be satisfied with their job. Generally speaking, satisfied employees are more productive. This satisfaction leads to better performance and in turn, provides a better experience with the customer. We here at Midwest Choppers link the performance of our salespeople with the applicable monetary rewards and incentives. We also provide sales people a flexible working schedule. Finally, we allow our
salespeople opportunities to grow in their positions.
COMMUNICATION IS IMPERATIVE
Communication is a key factor in any organization. To succeed, organizations must develop and maintain healthy interactive relationships with shareholders and employees. Management communication is not only a task that takes place at the top of the organization. All levels rely on communication in order to: develop a shared vision of the company within the organization; establish and maintain trust in the organization’s leadership; initiate and manage the change process; strengthen the identification of employees with the organization. (Van Riel, Fombrun)
Employee communication is an important contributor to organizational effectiveness by creating a connection between the organization and employees through various communication media. These include formal memos, email communications, and online communications as through an intercompany portal. Communication is important to keep employees informed and to help employees work together. It is extremely important for companies to realize the importance of employee communication. Also important is the type of communication tool used, whether it be face-to-face or computer-mediated communication. We generally use face-to-face (F2F) communication for sensitive issues, for example, an employee review or building interpersonal relationships. Computer-mediated communications (CMC) are used for general information, giving instructions, or communicating urgent matters. In my opinion CMC communication is more effective. This type of communication is just more convenient. Face-to-face communication, of course, is more personal, but CMC communication can be accessed by the user at their convenience. It also allows for a paper trail. Communication is key for satisfied employees. If your employees aren’t made aware of issues that will affect them, they will become resentful and unmotivated.
COMPETENCE IS CRUCIAL
Finally, employee competence is a key contributor to the success of our company. Where the salespeople’s key objective is forming relationships with customers and distributors, our production people must be very competent and have high cognitive ability. They must have familiarity with machining and have experience in high-volume production. Production employees will experience routine task performance. This means that employee behaviors are directly involved in the transformation of organizational resources into the goods and services that the organization produces.
Worker competency is important at any level, in any position, and within any organization. Midwest Choppers chooses employees very carefully. We not only want bright, competent, innovative thinking employees. We also want our employees to engage in high levels of boosterism and civic virtue. We want our employees to also volunteer their time in the community and have a high level of integrity. According to Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson, “employees with a strong sense of competence believe they can execute the particular behaviors needed to achieve success at work. Competence brings with it a sense of pride and mastery that is itself intrinsically motivating. Managers can instill a sense of competence in their employees by providing opportunities for training and knowledge gain, expressing positive feedback, and providing challenges that are an appropriate match for employees’ skill levels. Employees can build their own competence by engaging in self-directed learning, seeking out feedback from their managers, and managing their own workloads.”
(pp.181)
In conclusion, we want our employees to feel a sense of meaningfulness. After all, “when a task is relevant to a meaningful purpose, it becomes easier to concentrate on the task and get excited about it.” Isn’t that what every employee desires? When people feel that their work is meaningful, not only to them, but to a higher purpose, they become more determined to excel. This sense of self-determination is a “strong driver of intrinsic motivation.” (pp. 181) We give our employees the tools and the freedom to pursue opportunities that are meaningful. We consider our employees not just people, but talent. We want to keep our organization talent rich. In a recent survey, our employees said they felt a high level of embeddedness. They feel linked to the organization and community. “Embeddedness strengthens continuance commitment by providing more reasons employees need to stay in their current positions (and more sources of anxiety if they were to leave.) Research suggests that embeddedness helps employees weather negative events that occur, and that it matters across cultures. (pp. 68) Midwest Choppers is a family, all for one, one for all.
The core employees we focus on are salesmen and factory workers. The culture of this business values and promotes employee development and leadership excellence. All employees must be subject matter experts and have experience in high-volume production. The most important factors for these employees are motivation, communication, and competence.
MOTIVATION IS ESSENTIAL
Why do we need motivated employees? The answer is survival (Smith, 1994). Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations survive and are more productive. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. With the expansion of the retail industry, there comes into play the issue of how retailers are striving to capture and retain their best staffs. The effort and contribution of their employees is the key feature to the competitive advantage and business success of the firm (Bent & Freathy, 1997). In any institution, whether it is in the retail industry or any other industry, it is important for the management to increase workers’ productivity by allowing workers to achieve their maximum potential. Keeping sales people inspired is one of the most difficult tasks faced by retail organizations. Since salespeople deal directly with the customers, their attitudes, behaviors, and rapport with the customers determine whether or not those customers become loyal to the organization. Salary seems to play the largest role in employee motivation. Studies generally find that job satisfaction is linked to salary. The more money an employee makes, the easier it is for them to be satisfied with their job. Generally speaking, satisfied employees are more productive. This satisfaction leads to better performance and in turn, provides a better experience with the customer. We here at Midwest Choppers link the performance of our salespeople with the applicable monetary rewards and incentives. We also provide sales people a flexible working schedule. Finally, we allow our
salespeople opportunities to grow in their positions.
COMMUNICATION IS IMPERATIVE
Communication is a key factor in any organization. To succeed, organizations must develop and maintain healthy interactive relationships with shareholders and employees. Management communication is not only a task that takes place at the top of the organization. All levels rely on communication in order to: develop a shared vision of the company within the organization; establish and maintain trust in the organization’s leadership; initiate and manage the change process; strengthen the identification of employees with the organization. (Van Riel, Fombrun)
Employee communication is an important contributor to organizational effectiveness by creating a connection between the organization and employees through various communication media. These include formal memos, email communications, and online communications as through an intercompany portal. Communication is important to keep employees informed and to help employees work together. It is extremely important for companies to realize the importance of employee communication. Also important is the type of communication tool used, whether it be face-to-face or computer-mediated communication. We generally use face-to-face (F2F) communication for sensitive issues, for example, an employee review or building interpersonal relationships. Computer-mediated communications (CMC) are used for general information, giving instructions, or communicating urgent matters. In my opinion CMC communication is more effective. This type of communication is just more convenient. Face-to-face communication, of course, is more personal, but CMC communication can be accessed by the user at their convenience. It also allows for a paper trail. Communication is key for satisfied employees. If your employees aren’t made aware of issues that will affect them, they will become resentful and unmotivated.
COMPETENCE IS CRUCIAL
Finally, employee competence is a key contributor to the success of our company. Where the salespeople’s key objective is forming relationships with customers and distributors, our production people must be very competent and have high cognitive ability. They must have familiarity with machining and have experience in high-volume production. Production employees will experience routine task performance. This means that employee behaviors are directly involved in the transformation of organizational resources into the goods and services that the organization produces.
Worker competency is important at any level, in any position, and within any organization. Midwest Choppers chooses employees very carefully. We not only want bright, competent, innovative thinking employees. We also want our employees to engage in high levels of boosterism and civic virtue. We want our employees to also volunteer their time in the community and have a high level of integrity. According to Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson, “employees with a strong sense of competence believe they can execute the particular behaviors needed to achieve success at work. Competence brings with it a sense of pride and mastery that is itself intrinsically motivating. Managers can instill a sense of competence in their employees by providing opportunities for training and knowledge gain, expressing positive feedback, and providing challenges that are an appropriate match for employees’ skill levels. Employees can build their own competence by engaging in self-directed learning, seeking out feedback from their managers, and managing their own workloads.”
(pp.181)
In conclusion, we want our employees to feel a sense of meaningfulness. After all, “when a task is relevant to a meaningful purpose, it becomes easier to concentrate on the task and get excited about it.” Isn’t that what every employee desires? When people feel that their work is meaningful, not only to them, but to a higher purpose, they become more determined to excel. This sense of self-determination is a “strong driver of intrinsic motivation.” (pp. 181) We give our employees the tools and the freedom to pursue opportunities that are meaningful. We consider our employees not just people, but talent. We want to keep our organization talent rich. In a recent survey, our employees said they felt a high level of embeddedness. They feel linked to the organization and community. “Embeddedness strengthens continuance commitment by providing more reasons employees need to stay in their current positions (and more sources of anxiety if they were to leave.) Research suggests that embeddedness helps employees weather negative events that occur, and that it matters across cultures. (pp. 68) Midwest Choppers is a family, all for one, one for all.