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Café Management

Story by Ed Arvidson

What motivates us to work?

Unless you are a one-person operation, you being that However, the problem with the assembly line model is
person, a large part of your success is dependent upon your em- that workers don’t experience the entire manufacturing process,
ployees. If they like and respect you, and feel fulfilled by their and the satisfaction that results from it. Their jobs are reduced
jobs, they’ll help you build an empire! On the other hand, if they to a repetitive, mundane process. The false premise that people
hate you and feel their efforts are unappreciated, then they will are basically lazy, and will only work for a paycheck, was created
be of little help, and may even deliberately sabotage your efforts. and validated by these factors.
Therefore, having happy, motivated employees is essential to Behavioral Economist, Dan Ariely, has found that in most
your success! cases, feeling valued and appreciated is more important to employ-
Before the industrial revolution, most people worked at ees than the money you pay them. He’s not suggesting that you
a trade, thus the old saying, “the butcher, baker, and candle stick shouldn’t fairly compensate your employees for their worth, but
maker.” The problem with the tradesman model is that production that you should understand that money alone is not “the” factor
is slow, and because of this, income is limited. For example, if one that will motivate them to work harder, or care more about your
is a chair maker, then the making of a chair will require expertize business! Creation, ownership, identity, challenge, and pride, are
in multiple areas, including: selecting woods, creating designs, actually more important to most employees.
cutting, carving, working a lathe to turn legs, refining parts to fit
properly, drilling, gluing, sanding, finishing, upholstering, not to
even mention pricing and marketing. So, to double production You would benefit by listening to what
under the tradesman’s model, it requires finding a second person Professor Ariely had to say at a seminar
with all of the afore-mentioned skills. This is a difficult task, and he presented in 2008. Here is a link to
limits a company’s ability to grow quickly. a streaming video of that event (about
Out of this realization, the industrial revolution was born. 20 min.):
Multiple workers, each concentrating on just one aspect of manu- www.ted.com/speakers/dan_ariely
facturing, provides greater uniformity, faster fabrication, and in
turn, more income.

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