As a young entrepreneur who founded the musical company ERA Brands, Evan Rubinson understands the challenges of getting business owners and their employees on the same page. He believes that the first step is to create a vision that merges the needs of owners and employees.
Business owners are committed to the long-term success of their companies because they have invested substantial time and money into developing them. They tend to have more of a long-term view, while employees who only earn a paycheck and not part of the profits have no problem leaving the company if a better opportunity comes along.
Evan Rubinson Speaks from Experience
Having been both an employee and an employer, Rubinson understands the give and take between people in both roles. Now that he has several people reporting to him, Rubinson knows that employees repeat behavior that has earned them rewards in the past.
When workers look at their successes, they typically focus on short-term accomplishments, such as exceeding their sales quota for the year. Employers are more interested in actions that build lasting relationships with customers. The result is earning business from customers who will then buy from the company multiple times according to how well employees invest in them and try to meet their needs.
Evan Rubinson makes a point of praising the success of his employees while encouraging them to think in terms of building relationships and a strong brand name. He recommends that new employers continually express their expectations while also tying monetary rewards and other types of recognition to the company’s five-year and 10-year goals. Rubinson also recommends breaking goals down into smaller timeframes to help make them more manageable for employees.
A Better Way to Reward Employees
Employers who want to get employees onboard with seeing beyond immediate goals need to change the way they think about rewarding them. According to Evan Rubinson, stressing the importance of developing long-term relationships with customers and suppliers while still paying bonuses based on sales numbers sends a conflicting message to employees. Most people will prioritize doing what they need to do to earn their bonus and all but forget about the long-term goals discussed at every department meeting.
This issue is a double-edged sword because employers cannot afford to have employees focus only on the big picture while failing to meet sales quotas. He feels that the best way around this is to provide incentives to employees based on what is most impactful and meaningful to the company. At ERA Brands, this can include a wide range of both short-term and long-term objectives.
Evan Rubinson tries to balance both types of goals when he decides how to pay bonuses to his employees. By blending employee objectives together, he avoids overfocusing on one outcome to the detriment of the other.
