Structured Answer - Management

Except through financial incentives, how can firms motivate their staff?

Motivating its crew is something essential for a firm. The better an employee feels in his workplace, the better results he/she will produce. Similarly, an unhappy employee will show poor results. Knowing this, how can a firm motivate their staff? We’ll go through several solutions that implies from changing its way of managing to re-imagine the workplace of our employees completely.

The best way to motivate someone is to tell him why he needs to be productive. If an employee feels like he’s a part of the place he works at, chances are he’s going to work harder. When decisions are not entitled to the CEO, employees are given the chance to be involved in the firm’s fate and are more inclined to be motivated.

Another way to motivate employees is to work on in the internal communication. Employees with knowledge about what is happening, are more suited to be productive. Still inside of the communication domain, some firms are hiring Chief Happiness Officer. These people are supposed to promote conditions of happiness amongst employees. They organize breakfasts, meetings to talk about employees’ feelings, etc. It can be a good way to show that you care about your employees.

Studies have also shown that the look of a workplace can have an influence on employee’s productivity. While red walls are good for work, they can be a source of anxiety and stress. Blue or green walls are great for concentration and creativity. Plants are also great for maintaining a relaxing atmosphere.

Thus, there are many ways to motivate employees beside financial incentives.

What are the advantages and drawbacks of working in a small or medium-sized firm compared with working

in a big company?

Working for a small/medium sized company has several advantages. First, communication between the CEO and its employee is easier since words doesn't have to pass through dozens of steps before reaching people who are concerned. The company can even feel like a big family for employees, who are thus more inclined to work well because they feel concerned. Employees in small/medium sized companies can also have more variety in their job. Indeed, less employees in a company means the few there are needs to have many skills, unlike big companies where generally, each employee is assigned to one domain.

However, there are also some drawbacks that comes with all that. In a small/medium sized company, employees have less opportunity of evolving and if they ever want to go work elsewhere, recruiters might be skeptical in front of someone who have worked in a somewhat unknown company. Finally, a small/medium sized company generally means small/medium sized funds. Thus, less money is allocated to hardware and software for the employees to work with.

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