Sharing the Wealth
Sun Tzu said, “When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided amongst your men; when you capture new territory, cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the soldiery.”
Business can learn from the spoils of war. It is important to share the profits a company makes. Everyone in the company works hard for a goal. They should be rewarded for making the company do well. If the employees are rewarded for the company doing well, they will work harder and make more sacrifices to make that happen. In corporate America, the top personnel are often give bonuses for profits. That way the manager has the incentive to make the profits needed.
There are two ways to go about this. A manager could go through and cut all the wages and benefits to get more profit and thus a larger bonus. Most companies that do this will eventually decline because employee moral will go down and top performers will leave the company. This short term strategy doesn't work well.
Some companies will only reward their top managers. All the low level workers feel that it isn't really fair. They do not feel loyalty or satisfaction to the company. The job is then just a way to pay the bills until something else comes along. In most companies this is how it works. The top people get big bonuses and incentives. The bottom people get nothing except a low paying job.
Every once in a while a good company will reward everyone openly. They will share company profits generously with the entire company. These companies are more likely to do well. The employees will feel a deeper sense of loyalty and enthusiasm for the company. And, it doesn't always have to be a lot of money. Wal-Mart opens up stock purchase plans for employees and many of them feel much happier knowing they can be part of the company through stock purchases. It may never amount to a lot of money from a ten dollar an hour employee, but the employee feels they are part of the team. When people feel left out, you get revolt and rebellion. The best companies make everyone feel as though they are being rewarded fairly.
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