A 14-year old printing company approached us in driving employees a bit more because he felt they lacked commitment and dedication. The owner is an immigrant with a majority immigrant team but most of the individuals grew up in America. Due to the owner’s unique religious background there tended to be a disconnect between employees and owner. The owner shared the pay structure for his salesperson. After digesting the information, I asked how long the employee lasted. Then I asked whether he felt the company was ahead with the current compensation structure for the employee. The next question was whether the employee is engaged and felt driven by the compensation structure. The answers are: one lasted 6 months, another is still here; the company is losing with the compensation structure; and the current salesperson is complacent. We took a look at the compensation structure and determined how much the company is earning or losing. The structure is based off not new revenues but total sales revenue; a portion is provided to the salesperson off the top. The owner feels a lot of the sales commission is not being earned. Small Business Advisory confirmed the facts and provided a deeper peek behind the curtain. The detailed analysis showed the employee gaining the advantage without bringing new sales to the table. Plus, the employee feels a sense of entitlement and ignores communication from the owner. The employee also does not communicate details to the owner. Long story short, we overhauled the compensation system that provided unique goal setting for the company and then to key individuals. We communicated simply and introduced visual cues for all employees to see and get reminders of the incentives program. This is a very effective tool that brought cultural change and is now implemented with much success for the many businesses Small Business Advisory engages with.
