The thought of rewarding people for striving for excellence
and making a difference in their companies is appealing to most. However, the
idea of punishing those who come to work every day, do their jobs well, and
help the company stay afloat does not seem to make sense. Mr. Bethune implemented
a reward system when his company, Continental Airlines, met or exceeded a predetermined
goal for on-time flights. This strategy promotes teamwork by encouraging everyone
to come together to make the company better. This is a more effective strategy
than the one Mr. Bonsignore alludes to. It would be one thing if by punishment
Mr. Bonsignore means that those who do not “shine” will not be rewarded. People
may decide that they like coming to work and doing what they do well every day
without making any extra effort. This is a conscious decision not to go for a
bonus. These employees do not need to stand out but they are doing what they
need to do every day and are otherwise great employees. If they will keep their
jobs and just not get whatever bonus or reward is being offered, this could
work. People in this situation get to decide their own fate by either going the
extra mile or simply continuing to do their daily jobs.
It is a completely
different situation if by punishment he means that employees not going above
and beyond will be fired, demoted, or whatever else the company decides will be
appropriate. Negative motivation like this is not really motivating. If there
are employees who are not adapting to change, then yes, they need to be dealt
with accordingly, but in this scenario, it is difficult to determine what the
punishment would be and what exactly they would have to do to be punished. Punishment
of these individuals would have a detrimental effect to the company.
One of the barriers that stands out to me is that there has
been a lot of change at Honeywell and employees are already in a state of
uncertainty. The threat of punishment may do more harm than good in a situation
like this. As Mackay (2013) points out, “Downsizings, reorganizations, new
products and revamped org charts can take their toll. Employees may feel they
don’t have it in them to go through another major overhaul”. Employees can grow tired of the thought of
more change and because of that, management needs to ensure that the need for
any changes is clearly communicated to them and that they are included in the
future change efforts.
I think that management needs to create a positive spin on
changes to unite the processes of both organizations. Communication to
employees is essential explaining the changes, why they are necessary, and how
they will affect the employees. Asking the employees for their input in the
changes will also be key in the success of creating a new, common culture. Cultural
change does not happen overnight but a strong consistent message will certainly
go a long way toward making the change smoother and easier to accept.
An immediate takeaway from this article is that employees
matter more than anything else. As a CEO you can have all the great ideas in
the world but if you don’t have the people to make it happen for you, they
remain just great ideas. Changing a
company’s culture is a monumental task, but as Reh (n.d.) points out, “Companies
with an adaptive culture that is aligned to their business goals routinely
outperform their competitors”. With this in mind, it will be vital for me as a
leader to stay in touch with the culture of my organization and ensure that I
listen to employees and watch their behaviors for signs that it is time to
adapt.
References:
Mackay, H.
(2013). Why your employees fear change and how you can fix it. Portland
Business Journal, Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/print-edition/2013/07/26/why-your-employees-fear-change-and-how.html?page=all
Reh, F. J.
(n.d.). Company culture: What is it and how to change it. Retrieved from http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/companyculture.htm
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