Performance Nordstroms Goals 1.

Nordstrom creates an open atmosphere, in which every associates sales figures are made available to everyone else. Explain the positive impacts. While this is intended to foster creative tension, how might it lead to unhealthy destruction? Nordstrom way of creating a competitive atmosphere between its employees fosters a drive among the employees to try to do better than everyone else. It is a motivational tool that gives every employee a goal to do better than everyone else. While this may be a good tool to use it may cause aggression amongst the employees in which they may try to sabotage other employees to get ahead of the game. It may also deter an employee who is having a hard time keeping up with everyone else to eventually leave the company. Goals are good as long as they are in line with the companies goals. If an employee is only there to better himself then the company may face issues of growth. Why would someone be willing to train a new employee if they are eventually going to compete with that employee for performance marks and sales? Performance marks should be kept anonymous and left available for employees to view without the names of the employees posted that way they can see where they want to be without knowing who is at the top and bottom of the list. 2. Twice a month, Nordstrom releases sales figures and rewards top-performing employees. Is this the best type of reinforcement schedule, or would you take a different approach? In some cases this may be the answer for rewards, however, if it is the same individual receiving the rewards every time then it may not accomplish anything. Rewards should be there to foster healthy competition. I know in the job I am currently see when the same person getting the awards every month it makes it seem impossible for me to ever get it. Rewards should be given to more than the top performers. Rewards should also be given to the people who have made the most improvement or to someone who has gone above and beyond the normal grading scale. 3. Give a thorough example of a reinforcement schedule you have experienced or seen. Explain the effort, the reinforcement schedule, and the motivation to succeed. Was the outcome positive motivation or were their negative impacts? Being in the military for 9 years I have seen quite a few of the reinforcement schedule in action. The prevalent would be the variable interval schedule. Awards are given monthly, quarterly, and yearly for employees who are top performers, then there are awards that are given out on situational basis when a employee does something above and beyond. There are also awards given out for good conduct over a certain period of time and so on. The military gives the awards to highlight the positive things that the individuals are doing so that everyone knows that their good deeds are not going un-noticed. The rewards for these can be time off of work, points towards advancement, ribbons on your uniform and so on. The outcome of this is a positive reinforcement that keeps the moral and pride among the employees high. It can be on an individual basis or a team basis. We recently received time off work has a whole command for not getting any alcohol related incidents over a two year period which is a huge accomplishment for a command of our size. (Nelson & Quick, 2011) References Nelson, D. L., & Quick, J. C. (2011). ORGB2 2010-2011 Ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.