ASSIGNMENT $2$

CASE STUDY $-$ MOTIVATION CONCEPTS

Read the case study carefully, and answer the questions found at the end of the case.

From good to great: motivation at Torfs

CASE INCIDENT $1$

$q,$

For several decades, Belgian shoe retailer Torfs was a decent place to work, The family$-$owned chain of stores was fair and caring to employees. But it was a traditional top$-$down' company. $"$t was more. "The company says how it has to be$.$ and the coworkers just execute", recalls Els Van Keymeulen. Torfs HRM anager. 'They have to follow:$\text{'}$

Things began to change in the mid$-1990$s under Wouter Toris, the third$-$generation leader of Torfs. As part of a broad plan for the shoe company to take larger strides, wouter Torfs started empowering his employees. He began to bring all employees together twice a year to share information about the company's direction. And gradually these meetings became more interactive and engaging. In $2009,$ for example. Toris employees were asked to help come up whth the company values. They defined the values to include a family feel, a focus on results and 'goesting' $-$ a Flemish word that roughly translates to 'enthusiasm'.

The company's 'goesting' was in full force at the last semi$-$annual employee summit, when store employees were asked to get into small groups and design a sneaker. Things got crazy," Van Keymeulen says of the actwity. The energy that generated was amazing:

At the meeting. Torts employees vated on the two best designs. Thewinning designs are currently in production and will be sold in all the stores $-$ the first time Torfs will sell its own shoe.

In recent years, Toris has also beefed up its philanthropic efforts. Working with a Flemish development agency, it helped build an orphanage in South Africa in $2007$ and since

have travelled to Nepal to work directly with community leaders. And when a massive earthquake shook Nepal in late April $2015,$ Torfs organized a fundraising campaign at its stores.

The employee imolvement, the excitement and the social purpose have helped fuel better business results, Van Keymeulen says. The number of shops has more than doubled from $30$ stores two decades ago to $73$ today. The number of employees has jumped from $235$ to more than $600.$ Shoppers in Flanders have voted Torfs the number one shoe store for customer friendliness $10$ years in a row. And revenue has doubled in the past five years, to $6140$ million in $2014.$

We want to inspire customers: Van Keymeulen says. If we want to insplie customers, we have to inspire our employees first:

Questions

List the different methods Torfs is using to mothate its employees.

Which mothation theories described in this chapter support the use of these techniques?

Do you think the motivation techniques used at this chatn of shoe stores would also be useful, for example, at an advertising agency? A pharmaceutical company? Or a fastfood restaurant?

Souce. E$.$ Fravenheim. The basic and beyond in Eurepe', Grest Plaze to Work and news$/2046$ the basics and$-$bwand$-$in euroone.