July 29, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



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SUCCESSFUL PROFIT-SHARING 



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UJSINE.SS is oiitt'riii.u' upon 

 a now era. It is tlie day 

 of close coiipcrat ion, not 

 only ;unong business men 

 themselves, but umou},^ 

 tlicir employees as well. 

 As a matter of fact, wo 

 liave been asleep at the 

 stake for many years and 

 have been short-sighted in 

 (lur views and actions towards em- 

 ployees. There should be no difference 

 !)etween the florists' business and any 

 c»ther business. We operate along the 

 ame line as merchandisers. There is a 

 lifference. however, which is largely the 

 lault of florists themselves. 1 have said 

 before that the majority of failures in 

 t)usiness, or of failures to make a suc- 

 cess in the florists' business, are due to 

 the fact that there are loo many of us 

 that put ourselves on a par with the 

 man who is spading the beds or wheel- 

 ing dirt. We are too prone to be penny 

 wise and pound foolish. In other 

 words, it is time to devote the biggest 

 part of our time to conducting the ex- 

 ecutive end of the business. We must 

 come to realize where we are making 

 money and where we are losing it. 

 This can only be done by systematic 

 records. 



This brings me to the ne\v issue of 

 the <iay, which is 

 [irofit-sliaring. This 

 is another step for- 

 ward. It is money 

 in our pockets. You 

 may say, "How can 

 I profit by paying 

 my employees a por- 

 tion of my profits, 

 on a profit-sharing 

 basis, when I have 

 not done it hereto- 

 fore?" 



Employees' Part. 



If wo adopt the 

 profit-sharing plan, 

 each employee real- 

 izes that when he 

 wastes stock ho is 

 participating in that 

 loss; if he fails to 

 give good service 

 anil the store loses 

 a customer, ho is 

 participating in the 

 loss; if in making up 

 a design or bouquet 

 ■'io is wasteful in tlie 

 inatorial that he 

 'i^^cs, ho is partici- 

 I'ating in another 

 OSS, or, if in mak- 

 'fig up a design or 

 l'ou(|uot he is eco- 

 nomical in the con- 

 trnction of the 

 'ork and is also 

 •'ireful to see that 

 t will come up to 

 *lie expectations of 

 'he customer, he is 

 Participating in the 

 profits. It is human 

 nature for employ- 

 ■■es to be more inter- 



'Ihr :i<|(ln-ss ..f Kcilicrt V. Ken-, of II<iiit-t..n. 

 'I'c'x.. Iii'l'iji''' tlic iJK'cl iiif,' of tlic 'I'l'xas .st.-itc 

 Florists' Assoc-i;i tiori, .lui.v Jl. IDIIO. on "I'.-iii 

 111!' Klorisis' I'.iisiiicss 1!p Opciati.'il Successfully 

 on llic rroiit Shilling I'liin'.'" 



I'sted in the work of a concern if th(\v 

 know that thcv arc interested in the 

 pidfits, whether thcv are large oi- small. 

 In nine cases out of ten where a concern 

 has labor troiil)les, it is its fault and 

 not the fault of the employees. 



There are several things that .are 

 essential /-^i 11 a i>i()lit-sharing system: 

 First, there must b(! an organization. 

 By that I mean emyiloyees who are 

 satisfactory and liave a desire to liuild 

 iij) a big organization. If there are un- 

 satisfactory I'liiployecs, it makes no dif- 

 ference wliat is oll'ered llieiii, they are 

 ilead to the world and time and energy 

 are lost in trying to jdease them. Su 

 weed them out and get only the liest. 



Profit-Sharing vs. Gifts. 



I believe that there is only one true 

 jirofit-sharing basis. There is the idea 

 of lianding a bonus chc(d\ at the end of 

 the year, and it is accepted graciously 

 by the employee, but the idan does not 

 instill inspiration as by the actual re- 

 sults of the store. A plan to get re- 

 sults must be of such a nature that every 

 employee ]>articipates in the actual prof- 



Robert C. Kerr. 



its (iT tlic i(iin|iany, and ti^ n it is up 

 In tlicin Id deliver tlie goods. Lay your 

 rarils nil the table if you .ire proud of 

 your luisiiiess ;ind let the other fellow 

 kiiiiw how you have succci'ded. If a 

 coimiiercial agi'Ucy asks for a report of 

 your business and it is a good one, you 

 are proud to render it; if it is a batl 

 oni\ Villi sometimes hesitate and may 

 fail to render it and are therefore put 

 ill the wrong idass. 



Do not try to make a secret of the 

 actual ))rofits of your store. Render 

 .1 monthly profit and loss statement. 

 Have your monthly efficiency meeting. 

 Talk about the statement. If one ])ar- 

 ticuhir line showed an unusu.'il protitj 

 find out how you did it. Ai)ply the 

 same methods to the other departments 

 that are not so profitable. Talk with 

 the head of the delivery department 

 and, if the maintenance of this de- 

 partment is unusually high, investigate 

 it thoroughly ami find out why. The 

 bookkeeper should submit a list of cus- 

 tomers who are slow to ]»ay. The sales 

 manager should discuss ways and means 

 of increasing tlie sales of the store. 

 These monthly efficiency meetings are 

 wonderful things. Let your business 

 be an open bocdv with your employees. 

 It will instill confidence and make them 

 more deeply interested in your welfare. 



The profit-sharing 

 plan has been insti- 

 tuted by niany of 

 our larger concerns 

 rind is working suc- 

 cessfully with many 

 firms throughout the 

 country; so let us 

 conduct our busi- 

 ness on that basis 

 and let it be said 

 t hat the florists 

 t h r o u g h o u t the 

 country are ranked 

 among the best class 

 of business men. 



Working Plan. 



I am yoing to 

 give our working 

 plan, not as a model. 

 hut I believe we 

 have taken a step in 

 the right direction. 

 Our retail store is 

 operated by what 

 \se call the central 

 orijanization, com- 

 posed of myself, the 

 sales manager, the 

 superintendent o f 

 scrvii^e a n d the 

 credit manager, four 

 in all. The head of 

 each department is 

 liold responsible for 

 his respective work, 

 and is exptccted to 

 show results at the 

 end of the year. 

 This [ilan has been 

 in ojieration since 

 the first of this 

 year. 



There is on^y one 

 thing that gets re- 



