New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Question

What issues do I face with employees in terms of motivation?

Answer

You introduce the "agency" problem into your workplace.  Employees as paid agents will not care as much about your business as you and your family will.  Employees get paid no matter how much (or little) work is accomplished on their shift and without very creative compensation programs, their pay is not connected to how much they produce or how much value their work generates or how well the business does.  It's the issue Jesus spoke about in John 10:12-13: "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep."

That said, there are infinite ways of crafting bonus programs tied to productivity or profitability to create more alignment with you, but paying only for the work performed, to the standard expected (think outsourcing) is the ideal way to compensate for work.