- How do you motivate your staff and volunteers, to deliver the same level of satisfaction that traditional Panera stores do, when your employee structure is so unorthodox.
As a matter of fact, motivating and working with volunteers is particularly difficult, especially in the absence of the money motive (Powell and Richard 171). At Panera Cares, the human resource structure is rather unorthodox because the ordinary staffing procedure employed at the traditional Panera is not. Motivating employees and volunteers under such a structure can be particularly difficult. However, employing some techniques can help Panera Cares motivate its employees and volunteers the same way as the human resources at the traditional Panera. In order to motivate employees at Panera Cares, one would need to give positive feedbacks. Such feedbacks will boost the confidence of volunteers and employees, giving them the morale to work harder. Secondly, the human resources manager can observe a culture of employee recognition. Recognizing an employee for their respective tasks also gives them the will to work. Another worthy strategy would be to give employees and volunteers regular rewards for exceptional performance.
Such rewards have the same effect as financial benefits. Delegating duties and sending the volunteers to such things as conferences can be quite motivational as it makes them feel affiliated to the organization. According to Powell and Richard, giving volunteers and employees free food and transport can make them feel appreciated and motivated (172).
- Some say that the environment at Panera cares differs from traditional Panera stores, in that Panera cares is more exuberant about its operations. What factor(s) would you attribute this to?
The fact that Panera cares has a vibrant and lively environment is nothing extraordinary because as one would expect, a restaurant that accommodates all social classes, especially the low income classes must be highly crowded. Therefore, I would attribute the exuberant nature of the Panera cares operations to the fact that the organization, which was established by the Panera Non-Profit Foundation, adopts a pay-what-you-can policy, which is friendly to low income earners. This policy is responsible for the high number of clients visiting Panera cares. The high numbers of clients and volunteers makes the operations lively. Additionally, the internal operations of the organization are exuberant because, according to Powell and Richard, the working environment must be fun, so as to motivate volunteers and employees in an unorthodox structure (175).
Works Cited
Powell, Walter W, and Richard Steinberg. The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Print
