Motivating Employees (AQA GCSE Business)

Krispy Kreme opened its first UK store in 2003 in London. The business sells doughnuts containing responsibly sourced ingredients in their stores, coffee shops, kiosks and cabinets in Tesco. Doughnuts can also be ordered online.

Krispy Kreme sell their coffee at £1.90 per cup.

Park Designs Ltd (PDL) is a family business that makes high quality wooden furniture to order. The Park family owns all the shares.

As part of its commitment to training, PDL run an annual team building day for all 72 employees which is good for staff motivation. The factory is closed for the day and the staff go off-site for the day. Group challenges are run which help develop team skills and improve communication.

James Markets Ltd is a successful estate agents operating in the Midlands. It uses a variety of financial methods of motivating its staff, including commission for sales staff and a profit sharing scheme for employees with service records over 3 years.

Since opening in 2003 Krispy Kreme has expanded steadily in the UK. There are now 45 stores and coffee shops with another 35 planned for the next few years.

All new employees follow an induction programme. This covers understanding the importance of quality and health & safety procedures. Krispy Kreme aims to keep the top hygiene rating of 5 at all its stores.

Krispy Kreme wants staff to enjoy their work and take pride in their job. Employees focus on:

• being passionate about their work, and believing in the quality products

• demonstrating initiative, creativity and problem-solving skills.

Incentive schemes and a national annual awards ceremony are organised to celebrate successes.

There are formal training sessions as well as support from line managers, peer and trainers. Additionally, Skills Workshops and Talent Workshops offer support for those keen to further their careers. There are many career opportunities and internal promotions are frequent. Krispy Kreme is proud that over 60% of senior positions are recruited internally.

Park Designs Ltd (PDL) is a family business that makes high quality wooden furniture to order. The Park family owns all the shares.

As part of its commitment to training, PDL run an annual team building day for all 72 employees which is good for staff motivation. The factory is closed for the day and the staff go off-site for the day. Group challenges are run which help develop team skills and improve communication.

“I loved the team building day, we had great fun and it was better than being at work for the day. However I am not sure how useful it was to my job in the admin department?” Sue, Admin department.

The production manager will retire soon. Like him, many of the production staff have worked at PDL for many years. They enjoy their work and most stay until they retire. Consequently, there are several possible candidates to take over as production manager, but none have management experience.

Customer reviews say that the furniture is made to a very high standard, however, they also suggest that the administration staff do not always deliver a good service. Complaints show that order processing is not always accurate. Recently, some customers have asked about the negative reviews when enquiring about possible purchases.

Thorntons Ltd requires a sales assistant for one of its shops. A job advertisement was placed on its website with the following information.

Sales Assistant required

– Pay up to £8 per hour depending on age and experience.

• You will be given daily targets for sales of products

• You will ensure every customer is welcomed when they arrive in store and help them to find the perfect gift or treat for themselves!

• You will bring the brand alive through your customer service and your product knowledge

Adventures currently employs eight staff in the UK, who are all keen sporting enthusiasts. Adventures’ employees are expected to sell holidays and take payments but also deal with all customer enquiries, such as advice on local facilities.

Sales have fallen recently and staff absenteeism has increased. Other rival businesses have increased their salaries. As John is unable to offer a competitive salary, employees have been asking for extra benefits. Discounts on holidays, commissionsor profit sharing are being used by different competitors.

John is drawing up a business plan to expand into ski holidays in the Italian resort of Folgaria. The business plan outlines the objectives of the business. Within three years, John aims to double profits and would like to have a 30% market share of ski holidays to Folgaria. To achieve this, the business would need to sell on average 2000 ski holidays each winter. Adventures will increase its number of employees to 10 to sell ski holidays, so the company is moving to a new office with more space. The new employees enjoy skiing; one of them will live in the ski resort for the winter and support customers when on holiday.

Eve is a sole trader. She owns and runs Style the Chic (STC). STC is a fast fashion website aimed at females aged 16–24. Eve started the business five years ago. She invested her £5,000 life savings. The business made a profit of £450,000 last year.

Fast fashion means producing cheap clothes as quickly and as frequently as possible. STC works with reality TV celebrities that have a large social media following. The celebrities help design and promote a collection (range of clothing items).

STC has 30 employees. However, Eve makes all the major decisions in the business. She decides which products to order from suppliers and the selling prices. The buying team works with suppliers. Recently, staff turnover in the buying team has increased.

Table 1 – Information on STC