Tweet

Lesson #5: Make Your Workers Happy

Article Overview: “You have to employ winners, and then allow winners to do what they do,” says Simmons. “You have to give them autonomy, which means, in a lot of cases, the opportunity to make mistakes.”

Lesson #5: Make Your Workers Happy

“You have to employ winners, and then allow winners to do what they do,” says Simmons. “You have to give them autonomy, which means, in a lot of cases, the opportunity to make mistakes.”

Simmons has a reputation throughout the business world for having a very low staff turnover rate. Filled with longtime loyalists, Simmons’ businesses represent his personal philosophy of treating people equally and with respect. Simmons encourages his workers to act as entrepreneurs themselves, recognizing that not all great business ideas are going to come from just himself. He maintains an open-door policy, allowing his workers to develop their own projects that they feel passionately about and bring their business plans to Simmons for approval.

“The key is to properly incentivize people,” reveals Simmons. “You’ve got to make sure that, at the end of the day, you both have a good reason to go to work, and that there are no good reasons – for them or you – to move.” According to Simmons, a happy worker is a hard and a loyal worker. “I try to incentivize people fairly – with opportunity and money.”

While Simmons is often the brainchild behind his new products or lines, he gives his executives the independence to execute his vision as they see fit. They are given the time to develop a working business plan, and then come back to Simmons for the final endorsement. Simmons’ staff also tends to be as passionate about the hip-hop culture as he is himself, which further encourages the entrepreneurial spirit throughout his businesses.

Simmons claims that the second key to having efficient workers is “to let everyone fill in the holes that they’re good at filling in.” As an effective manager, Simmons recognizes his own strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of his staff, and compensates accordingly. Not only does this create a more satisfied workforce, but a more cost-effective one as well. This is why Simmons surrounds himself with highly educated people, who can perhaps fill in some of the business acumen that he lacks from not having a business degree. “I learned that I have a lot of talented, smart people around me,” he says. Confident in his abilities, Simmons is not afraid to admit where he could use some help, especially if it means improving his potential for success. “All my businesses run better when I’m working with people who are smarter than me.”

Simmons’ management style is said to be a disorganized, entrepreneurial free-for-all, but one that has worked with astounding success for him. His workers are always kept motivated and inspired both by Simmons’ own work and by the opportunities he provides to them. He opens the door for them to launch their own new ideas and share in his success; they just have to seize the chance and walk through. In doing so, Simmons is helping to guarantee the longevity of his companies, since a content and loyal workforce is the backbone to any healthy business.

Related Articles
  Selling swimming pools is the same as selling what you sell
  Benefits of Incentive Programs
  Three Marketing Lessons from Realtors
  Happy Workers Are Productive Employees - Truth or Fiction?
  Entrepreneur – How Not To Have A Bad Employee?

Article Tags: autonomy, brainchild, business ideas, business plan, business world, endorsement, entrepreneurial spirit, good reason, hip hop culture, holes, incentivize, loyalists, money, open door policy, personal philosophy, reputation, simmons, staff turnover rate, strengths and weaknesses, workforce



Related Forum Posts
Re: Quote of the Day - "The only people witho - Thanks for sharing this Evan, there are some very powerful quotes in there, I particularly like this one:- You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don't think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully. regards, Mal.
List of a few legitimate online business - Well My main methods to make money so far are adsense,affiliate marketing and freelancing and I think these are some more sites that can help me to make some more money.Your reviews are welcome: ::linkworth dot com>This site is awesome and offer lots of ways to make money. ::mturk dot com>complete simple mini task and get paid ::microworkers dot com>complete simple mini task and get paid ::shorttask dot com>complete simple mini task and get paid ::istockphoto dot com>sell stock photos ::eHow dot com>Make money writing ::Bukisa>Make money writing ::Associate Content>Make money writing ::Triond>Make money writing ::fiverr dot com>$5 freelancing job ::cpalead dot com>make money by completing offer ::peerfly>make money by completing offer
Happy New Year - Happy New year to you all. I love u all. Make this year your best year ever. You know this year will be the end of another decade. May you achieve all your heart desires this year in Jesus name. All what you've lost in the past nine years will be restored to you this year in 7 folds32
Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods - We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her. Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails. I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out. So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.
Re: 10 Tips to Start an Online Business - [quote="Anya101":1y6il6zm] 5. Make it very easy for people to order your products. The easier the order process, the more orders you will get. Make sure your payment pages are secured. If you accept payment online, it is [/quote:1y6il6zm] *This* is very good advice. I went to a site a couple of weeks ago to order a DVD, an independent movie, and instead of having Paypal, I had to jump through hoops to sign up for their payment system. It would have taken me more minutes than I cared to spend, so I just didn't bother!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Importance of Master Data Management (MDM)

Civility in the Workplace---Is it Decreasing?

You Have A Website What Now

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.