Using Money to Motivate Employees: Texas Roadhouse

One can clearly observe and admit how in the case of Texas Roadhouse, management successfully used money to boost employee satisfaction, however, money is not the only motivating factor. This discussion responds to and questions the assumption of the following: “If we take care of our employees, they will take care of our customers.” Money is not nor cannot be the sole motivational tool to retain a quality workforce. Texas Roadhouse CEO Hart knows this which is why he coupled monetary rewards with a basic philosophy of really caring about people and creating a management environment that creates a fresh mood of teamwork, excitement, and feeling appreciated. These are some of the imperative principles of management. Criticized for lavish company conferences Hart explains, as the text documents, that luxurious spending changes the hearts of people (p. 320). When you think about it, his effort in combination with employees doing volunteer service for San Francisco's Habitat For Humanity is a great way to spur motivation. 

Many assume that simply throwing money at employees will give them the raw impetuosity to perform better, faster, longer, and happily working fervently all for the sake of the almighty dollar. When asked why employees need more than money to be motivated such as showing thanks and praise Bob Nelson, author of the bestseller “1001 Ways To Reward Employees” in an interview with Kate Fillion (2007) said that people leave jobs because they don't feel recognized, and that “if the experience employees have” make them not feel valued “there's nothing to stay for.” True enough. You may know of more than one person who left a higher paying job, to go work under a better manager who brought to bear the importance of making him or her feeling cared for and appreciated.

The only reason why Texas Roadhouse management practice of giving a monetary reward to employees is working is that that is not all CEO Hart is doing. Texas Roadhouse is not simply throwing money at its employees. There is the creation of an entirely fresh, and caring sense of management that touches the hearts of everyone involved while stimulating new ideas and treating people as if they were actually human beings. Imagine that? Also a worthwhile mention here is Texas Roadhouse CEO Hart's attitude on giving employees' individually recognized pats on the back. For example instead of telling the group that everyone is wonderful, taking the time to thank 'Bill' or 'Sue' by name. Being sensitive to if a worker needs to telecommute or get off early to attend their child's piano recital are good ways too. 

A company or organization just saying that it takes care of its employees because they know the workers will then take care of their clients, is cliché. The reason why you know this to be true is reading the Mission Statement of many firms may support the idea verbally, but actual practice is another things. Getting an awesome theory to join with daily practice is part of the trick of good management and an example of supportive leadership. Obviously, CEO Hart of Texas Roadhouse has mastered this to a great degree. The proof is in the evidence. Beyond the rewards of large competitive cash prizes between $500 and $20,000 being given as incentives, the entire attitude and efforts of management demonstrated recruiter turnover to have fallen.  

Common sense tells you that everyone wants to be recognized for honest value with praise beyond a paycheck. Another thing to keep in mind is as Nelson had noted, is we are in an age where there are literally four generations in the workplace. Add to that the global marketplace setting and economy to see that this is not an easy task for managers to pull off. In a peer-reviewed journal article by experts Aguinis, Joo, and Gottfredson entitled, “What Monetary Rewards Can And Cannot Do: How To Show Employees The Money,” a general discourse explains the pros and cons of monetary rewards while giving their best thoughts on how to improve employee performance. Also in terms of employee rewards, other related issued are discussed such as timeliness, balance of monetary and non-monetary incentives, precise measurements of performance and provision of offering guidelines for management to implement. All in all each business is individualized and should match sensitivity to understanding employees' unique expressions, feelings, and talents and reward accordingly. 

References

Aguinis, H., Joo, H., & Gottfredson, R. K. (2013, March). What monetary rewards can and cannot do: How to show employees the money. Business Horizons. pp. 241-249. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2012.11.007

Fillion, K. (207). Bob Nelson, author of '1001 Ways To Reward Employees,” talks to Kate Fillion about why money means less at work than thanks. Maclean's, 120(34), 20-21. 

Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2011). Fundamentals of human resource management. New York: McGraw Hill.