415120915 Exercise Lauren s Balancing Act PDF

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What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the incentive system that DeMarco’s is using for sales associates? What impact do you think is having on the Demarco’s culture? Explain...

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LAUREN’S BALANCING ACT

What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the incentive system that DeMarco’s is using for sales associates? What impact do you think is having on the Demarco’s culture? Explain. ADVANTAGES: a. Motivated sales personnel to sell more with a more personalized touch. b. Increase in satisfaction level among the successful personnel. c. Effective control on labor cost d. Employees feel empowered to make strategic sales tactics such as texts and calls to customers on new items and promos. Suggestions are personalized as they relate with the clients. DISADVANTAGES: A. Some associates are replaced due to lack of sales performance numbers. B. High competition within the store with regards to products and customers. C. Unequal amount of commission paid depending on the kind of products provided. D. Loss of regular pay checks, unstable certainty with regards to periodic compensation. E. Employee retention issues since the ones that underperform are replaced. F. Salespeople end up fighting over customers and end up becoming pushy and intimidated by each other. G. Team culture is eaten away into non-existent. H. Salaries are inconsistent across the board and has resulted to comparison and envy.

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LAUREN’S BALANCING ACT

IMPACT ON DEMARCO’S CULTURE With the sales team in disarray, the company’s culture has turned into a competitive and task-oriented environment.

With little to no emphasis on team

culture. The image that was previously conceptualized was supposed to be one of a personalized and intimate way of dealing with their clients but, in the process, lost its emphasis on the group dynamics. How they relate with each other has not been highlighted. The team currently needs a more personalized approach to motivation as the compensation schemes have proven to be irregular and inconsistent. It may be breeding an environment that will end up being consumed with havoc from the inside out.

Do you think the complaints of lower-paid sales associates are legitimate? Why? How do you suggest Lauren respond to these complaints, such as the gripe that the system offers few opportunities for large commissions in some departments? The complaints are legitimate in more ways than one since the associates of the departments are complaining due to the irregularity in compensation based on the products they are currently handling. Such decisions such as prices are mainly done by higher management so there is not much room to be flexible in this regard. But they are performing in terms of relationship and reaching out to their clients.

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LAUREN’S BALANCING ACT It is uncertain to the sales team how much they will be compensated since there is no clear gauge of their performance and the total sales, they generated for the company considering their different departments. Some products do pay more than others, but they are still in close proximity to one another. So not only is there uncertainty but there is also clear resentment. There is that fear that their jobs may also be at risk. Definitely their fears are justifiable. We would like to suggest a reshuffling of these personnel so that everyone gets the chance to be more familiar with the different departments as well as giving them the opportunity to make the sales that count towards their compensation. A regular rotation should be established and scheduled so that everyone gets a fair shot and can show what they are capable of. Provided, proper supervision and assessment be done to justify the employee’s efforts. A basic salary should be established to secure the employees of their financial standings. For any sales above what is required of them through systematic sales targets that will be counted as additional incentives or compensation. This can encourage the sales team to perform more without them having to look over their shoulder in uncertainty. Another option would be to team them up and rotate the seat of responsibility regularly, giving the opportunity for each employee to act as a team leader for a specific project or length of time. Compensation can also be done through a group assessment aside from their regular salary. The advantages for these suggestions would be to promote better team building and cooperation among the team members.

It will encourage an

environment of creativity, innovation, productivity and speedy response to the tasks

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LAUREN’S BALANCING ACT at hand while providing an air of unity and confidence from within. They really do have a good team at hand, as the case pointed out. But properly providing and supporting them is the situation at the moment. By promoting a program that changes the environment periodically and encouraging team effort, they may get to learn more about how to provide better service and would be more knowledgeable about the other products that could enable them to give that extra push in providing for their clients. Since they have been to the other departments and is thoroughly familiar with other products, it will be a more holistic approach. The disadvantages though are that some may be able to hide during team performances and just ride on their coat tails.

If the leader is not on his toes,

problems will happen, and it will still lead to an ineffective team. The administration will need to set assessment parameters in place before implementing these suggestions

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LAUREN’S BALANCING ACT The 4 categories of motives, as shown above, explains the different kinds of motivations. In the case of Lauren, we would like to suggest that her primary act of motivation towards her people fall in the positive approach which involves rewards, pay raises, bonuses, and praise. At the moment, her stance lies on the intrinsic negative approach since the team is not in an environment of self-doubts and is filled with anxieties. She may have the right perspective, but her implementation is a bit faulty and inconsistent. She does provide rewards towards her employees but the way it is assessed is not fair and justifiable. So, this needs to be redone and carefully analyzed.

Have the successes of sales associates such as Katherine or Damien created a situation in which loyalty to customers is stronger than loyalty to the store? For example, if the sales associate leaves DeMarco’s might the customer leave also? In every professional setting, training is required. Not only to better prepare the employees but it does give them the ability to present themselves better and elevate their own personal standards within the company. Training in not just sales perspectives but also in better support to clients, company policies and regulations and the like. This will enable them to see their jobs from different angles. A more competent and confident team would mean better standing for all on the floor. One’s strength may be passed on through these training events as best practices may be emphasized even more. Everyone has the chance to learn from everyone if the trainings are done properly and regularly.

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LAUREN’S BALANCING ACT Proper turnover and with the suggested rotation would enable the team to be familiar with all the departments and products. So, one can logically be taken out of one department to fill in a gap in another. Commissions may also be valued not just in a sales point of view but perhaps through customer feedback and evaluation. Since the priority is about personalized service, then the customer’s feedback will matter much. This will also reflect back to the trainings needed and will give them a better picture of what the customers need at the moment. With this in mind, proper market trends and demands may also be distinguished. By stabilizing the commission scheme, you gain a more competent and confident team that will now put the priority on the customer and not trying to look over their shoulders to see how the other one is doing and how one can get the upper hand over the other.

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