Problem:
Laura Schulz h as operatedLaura's Sweet Stuff Bakery for the past 5 years. By 5:00 a.m. every weekday morning, customers are dropping in both to enjoy the cozy smells and to purchase fresh warm donuts and other goodies to enjoy with their coffee before going to work. After 5 years of this schedule where she began baking by 3:00 a.m., Laura is very tired.
Laura has decided to hire an apprentice baker and a cashier to provide early morning counter help. She knows that she must stop treating her bakery as an extension of herself and begin operating a business. She has a friend with an MBA who told her to establish a performance measurement system so that she can tell whether her two new employees are good employees or not.
It all seems so complicated. Laura has contacted the local Business School Co-op Program and asked for advice. Your professor assigned you to answer Laura's questions for 20 percent of your grade. When you meet with Laura, she tells you that she will need you to explain with examples related to her bakery "because I'm not good at theory." She presents you with the following questions:
What is performance, and how does this term relate to my employees?
Why is all of this so complicated?