Employee Incentives and Benefits Leading to a Successful College

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to discover internal issues that can arise as a consequence of change. The study shows how employee morale can be swayed based on their leaders attitudes towards them and even their benefits. By identifying positive relationships between employees and management, businesses are able thrive and maintain stability. By reinforcing respect and dignity into the workplace, employees are able to build relationships, trust and work toward common goals. Once the internal foundation is established, the external path towards success can commence.

Introduction

One of the key components to an organization's success is employee motivation. Employees are the human assets of any organization. Employees will directly impact how well the organization operates. Over time, organizations have begun to invest less capital in their human assets due to unreliability and risk. More capital is being invested into machines which are thought of being more reliable to an organization's success. However, organizations still need employees and those employees need to be motivated to achieve organization success. The employees have to want to work for the organization. If they do not, they will not be performing at their best ability.

There are many ways that employee motivation can be increased. One way is to offer benefits and incentives that entice the employee. Employees want to be appreciated and want to be rewarded for their efforts. Offering employees benefits such as reduced health care contributions, increased paid time off, and increased pension plans will allow room for continuous growth of employee motivation. Granted, there is not a perfect benefit package that will motivate every employee, which is why incentives also need to be implemented. Weekly staff lunches or staff retreats will not only increase employee motivation and value, but will increase the effectiveness of employee communication by allowing employees to mingle with co-workers and management.

American college went through several different management styles, all of which had a different perspective on employee motivation. This paper will take a look at the different styles and the different approaches to employee motivation. The outcomes of the management style will be analyzed for overall effectiveness. Lastly, opportunities for increased motivation, a strategy for implementing ideas for increased motivation, and goals for monitoring the effectiveness on motivation will be discussed.

Background

American College began in September of 1972 by two brothers who decided that they could offer a much better work environment and learning experience than what was currently being offered in the private sector. The college originally began as a Business College in which they offered Associate Degrees in Business, as well as Business Certificates. They started small and had organized themselves to be a viable alternative to larger universities.

The brothers created the college and they received their first accreditation from ACICS in 1975. In 1972, the brothers enrolled twenty-five students and by September of 1973, the school had an enrollment of 85. Three years later in September of 1975 the college had increased their enrollment by 62% to a total of 225 students.

The older brother, John, had a Masters of Education and served within the public education school system as a teacher for fifteen years. His younger brother, Sam, worked in the business environment as a car salesman. John had the passion of a teacher, whereas Sam knew how to close the deal. Their style of management was as different as night and day. John was very employee driven and believed strongly that employees were the key to the college's success and should be rewarded for their efforts. John incorporated employee benefits such as health benefits and paid time off with employee incentives such as company retreats in order to increase employee morale and motivation.

Unfortunately, John passed away and Sam took control of the school. Sam's view of management and college success varied massively from John's view. Sam dwelled on growth of buildings and college wealth more than success through satisfied employees. The change in management was terrible for faculty and students.

Sam's management lasted for years and finally, Michael, John's son, took over his position as president of the college. Michael was faced with the lack of motivation and retention of employees that he must rectify. Under Michael's management the college could see a turn for the better, however, the college has to overcome a few key issues first.

Issue Identification

There are many key concerns for American College. First of all, the college began in 1972 by two brothers with very different opinions on how to manage staff and the overall success of the college. John relied more heavily on employees to create a successful college and Sam saw dollar signs in the future through more students and growth. Both brothers had the same end goal for the college, to be successful. However, the approaches to achieve the end goal of success were very different.

The first major issue is the change in management and the affect the change had on the employees. Under John, the employees experienced a full benefit package, paid time off to help balance home life and work life, and weekly morale boosts through staff lunches. Employees were subject to work long hours in order to make the college successful through John's eyes; however, their efforts were generously rewarded through John's benefits and incentive programs. Under John's management the college saw an increase of student enrollment from twenty-five students in the founding year of 1972 to 850 in 1985 when sadly, John passed away.

After John's death, Sam took over the role of president. Under Sam's management the staff experienced a decrease in their benefit package and the weekly morale lunches came to an end. Sam felt costs needed to be decreased so he could expand the college to gain more students. The affect of the changes in management decreased employee morale and retention. In addition, the staff no longer had the same respect or trust in the college management. This would be a key issue that Michael would need to overcome through his management and takeover of the college.

Another major issue is communication. For any organization to work and be successful, communication must flow through all channels of management. According to Marty Blalock of Business Alumni,