Student 1- P.390 Q2. Name 2 concepts from this chapter that have been used effectively at Brueggars.
Brueggars took and implanted simple actions which made their company flourish and proved that the simple approach even if you are not an expert will make the difference in how good the company can turnout. First thing they did was they encouraged a high level of employee involvement. They did this by hiring a local area manager and told him that he was the man and do what he needed to do to make the shop successful. In return for his hard work, he was also told that he would be given a 20% stake which reinforced that there was a commitment to him. This helped to drive home the second the second aspect of empowerment. When you are empowered to make decisions that are accepted by the leadership it makes you more confident as a manager and helps you to make the best decisions possible for the team.
P.390 Q4. If you were asked to measure Brueggers productivity how would you do it?
In a job like Brueggers you might want to measure productivity by how well the new hires do after they work in the organization for a little while. They are obviously doing very well as a company but its hard to put a measurement in the traditional sense of units per hour in a bagel shop. Rather measuring it by the opportunities that the associates have while working to drive sales and by giving each customer high levels of customer service. A way to check these is by giving each customer the opportunity to do a survey and voice their pleasure while in the store.
Student2
Various concepts discussed in this chapter have been implemented at Brueggers. Name two of these concepts. Discuss how they have been utilized effectively at Brueggers.
Empowerment and Culture are the two concepts that immediately came to mind while reading this case. Breuggers started off by empowering area managers to grow their business through innovation, product, customer loyalty and profitability. This level of employee involvement lent a foundation to building a successful structure that retained the initial levels of empowerment, while formulating a structure that enabled the organization to grow exponentially, the companys culture was adopted to solidify the responsibility, authority and stake in their business and the decision-making process. (William P. Anthony, 2010, p. 390)
If you were asked to measure Breuggers productivity levels, how would you do it?
This question is deeply routed in profit and loss. Anyone who has watched Restaurant Nightmares can identify issues that a restaurant can face. Breuggers took a risk in that they did not develop standardized processes that each location must adhere to. Also, you would need to take into consideration, location, traffic patterns, average dollar sale, cost of goods, salary expenditures, supplies, rent, etc.
Therefore, I would take a location approach and customize productivity levels based on all these variants. The most important factor being, when all is said and done, what was our profit margin at the end of the day, week, month, quarter, and fiscal year.
Management must gain trust and establish trust to ensure that any concept takes hold. Setting standards that are acceptable by corporate standards are the baseline for excellence within any organization.
Student3
P. 420 Q2 What strategic choices does ana employer face in managing a benefit program? What factors affect the choices on each program?
Of all the many choices that they have available to them, it really is 3 decisions that they have to decide. First is how much money is used to cover the employee benefits should be paid by the employer and how much of it should be covered by the employee. The next one should be how comprehensive the managers plans are. And the last is how flexible they will allow the benefits program to be.
Student 4
What strategic choices does an employer face in managing a benefit program? What factors affect the choices on each program?
Since competition for good talent is great, to get the right mix of non-monetary and monetary compensation helps to entice and retain employees. The employers program must maintain strategic plans (compensation, benefits and growth opportunities) while creating a balance and feeling like something of worth to the employee. Knowing what are is needed or desired by employees will aid HR in designing or managing the program. Finally, the biggest determining factors will be cost and educating staff on the various options offered will affect each program.
Student 5
I believe that it all depends on an individual employee. To be exact, employees value and look for different things when considering an employment with a prospective employer. Some value benefits especially look for great health care coverage from their employer, while others are more attracted to the actual pay, a salary that they’re going to receive. So, in the end, I think it all comes down to individual preferences and needs of employees. Not all workers strive for the same factor in employment. There’s no doubt that benefits play a significant part in motivating employees to pursue a certain organization and stay with that organization for long-term. However, as stated above, benefits are not the only way to attract, motivate, and retain employees.
Student 6
I believe that a strong benefit package is a very important part when recruiting for the best candidate for a job position. A person may accept or decline a job position depending on the benefit package. However, there are other factors that others find more important such as a good salary, time off and flexibility with work hours. I can also understand how an employee may prefer a higher salary with guaranteed raises and bonuses and not care as much for a strong benefit package. These types of rewards can also depend on the age of the applicant. A younger person who is employed and under the age of twenty-six, may not be so concerned about a strong benefit package but a middle age or older individual, may be very concerned about the benefit plan their organization offers. It depends on the person’s preference and their personal views on what they feel is the most important part of their job.
