Rewards and Recognition Program for Coyote LLC and Acme Corporation

Introduction 

The merger that occurred between Coyote LLC and Acme Corporation was a move that looked poised to transform the way the company operates. The aim was to increase the profitability and return on investment for the company shareholders through to revolutionizing the process through which the two companies operated. However, an unforeseen challenge has arisen following the merger. The motivation of employees in the sales department had dwindled to an all-time low. This has negatively impacted their engagement and productivity, which has an overall detrimental impact on the performance of Coyote-Acme. Accordingly, this proposal expounds of the challenge of demotivation of sales department employees and proposes a a rewards and recognition program. The program aims to improve the motivation of the sales department employees with a bigger picture of putting Coyote-Acme but on course with its mission of being the market leader in the industry through provision of cutting-edge, innovative products and services delivered in a customer-centric manner. 

Current Situation 

It has been three months since the two companies Coyote LLC and Acme Corporation merged. The Coyote-Acme union was seen as a move that would translate to more infrastructure, capital, as well as human resources would be at the disposal of the new merged company, which if properly nurtured would see the company soar to greater heights of profitability and explosive growth. True to that, the company total assets currently stand at $ 365,000 million, as a result of the summation of both companies’ assets. Also, the number of employees that work in various department has almost doubled the number originally in the individual companies. The records from the Human Resources Department indicate that Coyote-Acme currently has 366 employees distributed across the six departments. The sales department is a major contributor to this number with 102 sales persons and eights supervisors being employees in the department. As seen, the merger has broadened the capacity of the new company and if the resources, including human resource are effectively used, Coyote-Acme will undoubtedly be industry’s pace maker. 

The Coyote-Acme union has had inadvertent impact on the employees’ performance in the sales department. As aforementioned, the number of the employees in the department has double as a result of the merger. However, the Human Resource Department has not made corresponding adaptations to effectively manage and make the best of the increased number of the available hands. Moreover, the company has set well-thought and market analysis-guided ambitious targets for all the departments including the sales department. The result has been higher expectations from the sales department, translating into higher targets for each employee of the department. Moreover, corresponding measures to improve the employees’ engagement and motivation to work towards the target have not been implemented yet. These factors collectively translate to low motivation of the employees of the department which bears harmful consequences not only to the company but to the customers as well. 

The demotivation of employees at sales department has been displayed in several ways. Over the last three months, there has about 45% of employees in the department have asked for off duties for various reasons. According to the sales manager, the department receives an average of six requests from employees in the department to request to be allowed off-duty for an average of three days. This is in contrast with an average of one request per week that was received before the merger. Moreover, over 70% of the employees have reported to work late at least once with 30% of the employees reporting late more than twice over the three month period. Also, an interview with three of the eight supervisors at the sales department pointed towards a change in attitude and behavior of the employees in the workplace with an observed reduction in the level of cooperation (Personal communication, 2018). More importantly, in as much as the overall sales ($ 66 million) for the company has been higher compared to sales in the individual companies, the productivity of the employees as measured by sales per employee has dwindled in the three month period. This implies the increase in sales is due to the higher number of employees but the productivity of employees is lower than before the merger. The above indicators of absenteeism change in attitude at the workplace, and reduced productivity are sure indication of demotivation of the employees at the sales department (Lazaroiu, 2015). The impact of the low employee morale has been reflected in not only the low productivity and growth of the company, but also on a drop in the level of customer satisfaction. 

Project Plan 

In order to bring Coyote-Acme back on course with its aim of being a market leader in the industry, the issue of demotivation of the employees at the sales department needs to be effectively addressed. The competition that the company’s products, which include anvils, sticks of dynamite and rocket-powered roller skates receives in the industry, necessitates a robust sales services in order for the company to maintain and expand its market share. Accordingly, a reward and recognition program is proposed as a means through which the motivation of the employees of the sales department will be regained. According to Fisher (2015), employees’ rewards and recognitions program can bring positive changes to organizations through: 

Improved employee motivation 

Improved performance and productivity 

A feeling of being valued at the workplace 

Improved teamwork and cooperation 

Better customer experience 

Reinforcing organizational values and culture. 

The proposal for the rewards and recognition for the sales department is a three pronged program that focuses on financial rewards, non-monetary rewards and recognition. Research by Geraghty (2018) has indicated that reward systems that include a combination of cash and non-monetary rewards as well as social awards such as recognition and praise have the greatest impact on employee performance and motivation. With regards to monetary rewards it suffices to reiterate that currently, members of the sales department receive an annual salary that is based on the level of employment. In addition, the employees receive an annual profit sharing addition to their salary that comes at the close of every year. However, the rewards program proposed is that a performance based commission that is pegged on sales should be instituted. Under this program, the top ten employees with quarterly sales exceeding $ 20,000 who record the highest percentage growth in individual sales will be offered a commission of 1% of their sales for the quarter. This is expected to provide and impetus and motivation for the employees to work harder and consequently better the company’s performance. Research by Root (2018), has shown that such commission-based financial compensation is effective more so for sales personnel. As such, the reward program will not only provide motivation for the employees, but it will also increase the company’s sales and ultimate productivity. 

A non-monetary rewards program and a social recognition system are the other two components of the proposed rewards and recognition program. For the non-monetary rewards, it is proposed that a catalog program be developed in which employees in the sales department will be collecting points based on the number of sales made. In essence, at the end of each month the cumulative sales for an individual will be collated and points allocated to the individual sales person portal based on an algorithm set in the catalog program. These cumulative points will be redeemable every half-year as paid vacations or shopping vouchers for the employee. In order to foster teamwork, bonus points will be awarded to individuals who pioneer sales that involve their respective teams. This is targeted to improve the morale of employees and encourage them to embrace teamwork during the process of execution of duties. Such a program has been shown by Kehoe & Wright (2013), as effective in improving employees’ attitudes and behavior, which are fundamental aspects of employee motivation. A social recognition program proposed is formulation of an “Sales Champion of the Month” award that is awarded to the employee with the highest sales with no negative feedback from the customer regarding the employee. The employee will be recognized and awarded with a congratulatory badge. Such recognition through praise is expected to be effective in the improvement of the department’s employees’ morale based on the findings by Fisher (2015). As such, the proposed three pronged rewards and recognition program for the sales department is a sure way of improving the motivation of the department’s employees with consequential benefit to the company and customers. 

Qualifications and Experience 

As the Vice President of the Human Resource Department, I am best suited to champion the implementation of the proposed rewards and recognition program. My vast experience spanning 15 years working in the Human Resource Company of three different companies provides the basis of my confidence to successfully implement this program. Additionally, I am not new to the process of the implementation of a rewards and recognition program. This is evidenced through the success of a similar program that we co-championed with the marketing manager for the marketing department 2 years ago. In the implementation of the program, the roles I will play include but not limited to the following: 

Work with the sales manager and supervisors to obtain the feedback about the program from the sales persons before its full implementation. 

Coordinate with the IT department in developing the program catalog for the collection of points as described above. 

Working with the sales and finance departments to identify the employees to be rewarded and acquiring their rewards based on the program. 

Providing scheduled feedback to the company’s top management on the effectiveness of the program. 

Proposed Budget 

Conclusion 

The merger between Coyote LLC and Acme Corporation is poised to transform the merged company owing to the increased factors of production at its disposal. However, the inadvertent demotivation of employees at the company’s sales department is likely to slow or stall the intended growth. Accordingly, the rewards and recognition program proposed needs implementation in order to avert the detrimental impact already being observed. Based on the findings of research in the field, the program holds the promise of causing growth and profitability to the company as well as value and satisfaction to the customers. This will be achieved through the program’s impact of improved employee motivation, improved performance and productivity, a feeling of being valued at the workplace, improved teamwork and cooperation, better customer experience, and reinforcing organizational values and culture. 

References 

Fisher, J. G. (2015). Strategic Reward and Recognition : Improving Employee Performance through Non-monetary Incentives. Philadelphia: Kogan Page 

Geraghty, S. (2018) 20 Ways to Increase Employee Motivation Using Rewards Retrieved from https://www.talkdesk.com/blog/20-ways-to-increase-employee-motivation-using-rewards/ 

Kehoe, R. R., & Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management, 39(2), 366-391. 

Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 14, 97. 

Root, G. (2018) Examples of Reward Packages to Motivate Employees Chron.com Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-reward-packages-motivate-employees-11615.html