Motivation in the Workplace and Employees
             Ralph Stayer's article was very interesting. It really made me
             believe that motivation is one of the keys to a successful company. After
             asking himself what needed to be done to achieve the goals he was looking
             for, he went out and accomplished them. He was looking to change his
             current business to a business where the employees would take on and share
             responsibilities for themselves. It was an uphill battle because the
             employee moral could have been much better. Ralph needed to motivate these
             employees desperately if his plan for change was going to work.
             Motivation first began when Ralph started to make all the employees
             do the sausage tasting not just top management. This allowed the employees
             to take more pride in their product that they made as a team.
             Responsibility of setting performance standards for employees were made by
             the employees themselves with a little coaching when needed by top
             management. There was a profit sharing system set up where the employees
             would receive a fixed percentage of profits every six months. Money is one
             of the quickest motivator in my opinion.
             Teams were formed to carry out specific functions. These teams
             replaced certain level managers. There seemed to be too many management
             levels in Johnsonville for such a small company. By giving more
             responsibility to the employees and coaching them to make there own
             decisions proved to be a highly effective change for the company. By the
             employees owning there own problems and solving them on their own it
             allowed Ralph and other top management to utilize their time more
             Most people if they had a choice would like to be achievers. In
             some jobs it is unfortunate that becoming an achiever is less likely to
             happen. If that is the case it might be time to look for a new job because
             happiness will never be found there. A persons own expectations is wh...