Rewards, Recognition, & Incentives

UNBELIEVABLE!

If you are a business student and regardless of whether you attend Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Podunk University, or some other unrecognized/recognized College or University, the same basics of business or business essentials are being taught to you.  For the most part, professors at the PhD or Masters level are teaching these classes and using the same textbooks purchased from the same publishers like Cengage, Pearson, or Mcgraw-Hill.  

However, the status of the professor will  undoubtedly be different because at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, your professor might be a former Secretary of State, Attorney General, or Federal Reserve Chairman; whereas, in some of the other schools they may merely be taught by PhD’s from those Ivy League schools or by others who earned their degrees in lesser known schools or who teach at the school with 30-40 years of marketplace experience.

But, the point here is that the same basic business essentials are being taught, especially in the area of Leadership styles and the use of rewards, recognition, and incentives to motivate the workforce; or, if used inappropriately serve to de-motivate the workforce at all levels.  However, once the education is received, the grade awarded, and the degree conferred, it is oftentimes doubtful that the retained knowledge is actually used, at least correctly.

So, what is correct use of the knowledge?  Well, I can tell you what is not…

Last week, we all heard:

Hostess Brands Inc. got final approval for its wind-down plans in bankruptcy court Thursday, setting the stage for its iconic snack cakes to find a second life with new owners - even as 18,000 jobs will be wiped out.

The company said in court that it's in talks with 110 potential buyers for its brands, which include CupCakes, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos. The suitors include at least five national retailers such as supermarkets, a financial adviser for Hostess said. The process has been "so fast and furious" Hostess wasn't able to make its planned calls to potential buyers, said Joshua Scherer of Perella Weinberg Partners.

"Not only are these buyers serious, but they are expecting to spend substantial sums," he said, noting that six of them had hired investment banks to help in the process.

On the surface, this may sound like wonderful news.  And, for students who have been taught the Case Study method of learning, represents a “perfect” example of the free market enterprise system at work.

But, from what vantage point do you stand?

Meaning what, exactly?

Well you have the vantage point of the buyers or sellers.

You have the vantage point of the customers.

You have the vantage point of the stockholders.

You have the vantage point of the local communities in which the various plants are located.

And, you have the vantage point of the employees which is further broken down into management and labor.

As far as labor is concerned, 18,500 employees are losing their jobs typically because of high wages being paid and the inability of labor to agree to less; consequently, the loss of jobs.

So, will these workers be hired by the new owners?  Maybe, maybe not.  No one knows for sure…

From the vantage point of management, it is a mixed blessing, as I see it.

Will they be losing their jobs?  Yes, some will.

Will they be hired by the new owners?  More than likely, some will.

But, what is unbelievable to me is this:

The update on the sale process came as Hostess also received approval to give its top executives bonuses totaling up to $1.8 million for meeting certain budget goals during the liquidation. The company says the incentive pay is needed to retain the 19 corporate officers and "high-level managers" for the wind down process, which could take about a year.

Two of those executives would be eligible for additional rewards depending on how efficiently they carry out the liquidation. The compensation would be on top of their regular pay.

This is not a business basic or essential that is taught in business schools, but acquired knowledge after graduation.  Is it any wonder that labor feels and acts the way they do?