Introduction
The vice president of marketing, Amanda Miller, at Schindler Pharmaceuticals is looking the ways for motivating the sales force. The need for looking out motivation techniques and tools is due to a decline in the sales for a couple of years. The top-level salespeople are not performing well due to lack of motivation. Motivational tools like commission system, a promotion plan, sales contests, and sales meetings are currently in use. Miller had a close look at all the tools and techniques that are currently used to find the lagging in the motivation system. She came to the conclusion that there needs a balance between financial and non-financial incentives. She has a concern regarding non-financial incentives if they will act as motivational factors for the sales force to perform well to improve in sales.
Discussion
1. Critique Schindler’s current motivational tools for its sales force.
Schindler's are using both motivational and hygienic factor as motivational tools for its sales force. It has been using motivational techniques like commission system, a promotion plan, sales contest, and sales meeting. The tools used currently is not enough to motivate the sales team. The commission is set according to the sales volume from 6 to 18 percent. The income of sales people is pretty low, the employees should get both financial and non-financial incentives. Schindler has too much of hygiene factors but they lack proper motivational factors as proposed program "promotion-from-within".
2. Would any of the theories of motivation presented in the chapter help Schindler to better motivate its salespeople? If so, which ones?
Dual Factor Theory is appropriate for Schindler to better motivate its salespeople. This theory includes both motivation factors and hygiene factors which are essentials for motivating the salespeople. The motivation factor is those which determines the satisfaction level called motivator which encourages people to perform superiorly. Responsibility, achievement, recognition, growth tougher jobs and opportunities are the motivators for an employee to perform well and look for growth.
The next factor is hygiene, these are not motivational factors but bring dissatisfaction and demotivation in their absence. Company policies, pay, benefits, working conditions, status, supervision, relationship with superiors and peers, and job security are the hygiene factors in the absence of which salespeople fail to perform.
3. Do you think Miller is justified in her concerns about non-financial incentives for the Schindler sales force? Comment on each of her concerns about non-financial incentives.
I think Miller is justified in her three concerns about non-financial incentives.
1st Concern: As of Dual Factor Theory, financial incentives are not only the reason for the employees being motivated to work. These non-financial factors should exist but other non-financial incentives like responsibility, achievement, recognition, growth tougher jobs and opportunities play a major role for the staff to perform well. This motivator will help to reduce turnover.
2nd Concern: After getting basic fulfillment like basic needs people look for more. If a person has an increased level of pay but does not get a promotion, such people do not get motivated. But if the same person is promoted and provided more pay then the promotional factor will act as a motivator and the pay will be a hygiene factor. People always like to get a higher position in their job, a recognition, be more responsible, and get higher achievement, these non-financial rewards will certainly contribute to sales force productivity in the long term.
3rd Concern: The people in the team will be highly motivated towards their work, this will result in increased performance in the employees which leads to a perfect result oriented team. Hence the organization will have higher growth and success.
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Schindler's promotion from within the program? Does it help sales force productivity?
Schindler's promotion from within the program is a tool used to motivate the sales force. In this program, the top performing salespeople over several years are promoted to the next level. The advantage of this program is that all the staffs start from a lower level and advancement depend upon the performance which motivates the salespeople to work harder.
The disadvantage of this system is that it takes a lot of time for salespeople to reach to the top level of management. We can see that it took 16 years for Miller to get promoted from sales rep to VP of marketing.
This program will not perfectly work for all level of staff. This may be motivating for the starter salespeople but for an experience people the lengthiness to reach to the top will be demotivating factor and turnover rate will increase.
5. Do you think Miller should implement one or more of her alternatives for changing the national and regional sales meetings? Explain. What other alternatives might be considered?
Yes, Miller should implement few of her alternatives like changing the format of the national meeting to include technical instruction, thus eliminating the need for the regional meetings, hold meetings at less-expensive locations, and discourage relatives from attending the national meetings. Other two factors like exclude the nighttime recreational activities and send fewer topo executives will demotivate the participants so these alternatives should be implemented.
The alternative methods could be organizing the national sales meeting in only 2 or 3 years gap but continuing regional meetings in a short period. Using video conferencing is one of the best cost-effective ways to bring an entire sales force together.
6. What advice would you give Ms. Miller to help her gain Schindler executive support of non-financial incentives?
Non-financial incentives are truly helpful for the salespeople to perform well. She should organize a monthly recognition program in each of the regions separately. There should be a healthy contest organized so that sales reps consider the award as pride. She needs to balance and use different tools and techniques to ensure measurement between performance and promotion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that none of the two factors, financial and non-financial incentives are individually able to motivate the sales force for performing their jobs. Financial incentives act as a hygiene factor whose absence can demotivate the sales force but is not a motivating factor. Non-financial incentives are the motivation factors whose presence helps the employees to look for growth. We need to implement the right motivational tools according to the level of employment. Lower level salespeople may find financial incentives as motivator whereas senior level finds non-financial incentives as motivational factors.
References
The Mind Tools Content Team. (Unknown). Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors. Retrieved May 18, 2019, from
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/herzberg-motivators-hygiene-factors.htm
The Mind Tools Content Team. (Unknown). Cost-Benefit Analysis. Retrieved May 18, 2019, from
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_08.htm
