Case Study of a Generous Employer - Ministry Exchange (MX)

Mock Case Study that is the Parable of the Vineyard in disguise.

I read this case study about a national sales manager for a major
auto parts manufacturer. Each January he held a meeting for his sales
force. He would get them all together in a posh hotel somewhere in a warm
climate. His custom was to outline the goals and objectives for the next
years sales figures and to lay out very clearly the compensation that each
salesperson could expect if he or she met a certain level of sales. They
had a small base pay but lots of their compensation depended on which
level of sales they had for the previous year. So at these meetings he took
one night in which he compensated them based on each of theirs previous
year’s sales totals. He did this up, they had a big dinner in the hotel ball room and all
of that. After dinner the national sales manager got up and reminded
everyone that at these meetings the year before he outlined four goals or
levels. If you sold $X (I don’t know the number) of parts the previous
year you made the bronze level and would receive $25,000 in compensation.
If you made silver you would receive $35,000, Gold – $50,000 and Platinum
(the highest level) – $75,000. Now everyone knew who had reached what levels because it was
published in the monthly newsletter sent to all the salesforce, but this
manager liked to have each person walk up on the stage to receive their
check. He called up the bronze group first and one by one he handed them a
$75,000 check. He did the same with the silver and gold groups. So the
people in the platinum group who were expecting a $75,000 check before
couldn’t wait to get up there and he gave them a $75,000 check as well. The sales manager had never done anything like this before, the
reaction and feedback was mixed as you might expect. The platinum group
was complaining to themselves over in the corner of the ballroom. They were
saying stuff like, “We busted our tails, sold 8 times the amount of parts
than the people in the bronze group yet we get paid the same amount.” So the national sales manager said to one of them, “Friend, I paid
you what I outlined and promised at last year’s meeting. You got what you
earned. If I want to give more to the others, can’t I do what I want with
my sales budget. Or are you greedy because I was generous.”