The honor system is important to the fabric of our society. Trust is a cornerstone of our beliefs. We trust that most people will do the right thing. Whether you realize it or not, you've been learning about the honor system for most of your life. As a child, your parents began giving you chances to earn their trust. They may have said that you could have one cookie and allowed you to get it yourself. By taking just one you proved that you were trustworthy and could be given more privileges. In school, teachers trust their students not to cheat on projects and tests because of the honor system. The honor system plays an important role in society and your business. So does having a robust inventory management solution. Keep reading to learn more about both.
For many years, a number of cities including Los Angeles, Charlotte, Denver, and Portland, relied on the honor system for passengers using their light rail and metro systems. Gates are expensive and can be difficult to install in many areas. Without the budget to staff each and every entry point systems rely on ticket vending machines and the honesty of their riders.
Within your own business there are probably a number of areas where you rely on your employees' adherence to the honor system. Unless you have a time clock, you trust that employees arrive at work on time and stay until they are supposed to leave. Similarly you are trusting them not to abuse their lunch hour or take excessive breaks.
You probably have a supply area that employees are free to access when they need pens, paper, staples, etc. You are trusting that when they take something from that area they will be using for work purposes and not taking it home for personal use.
Even more critical, are the parts of their job that are guided by the honor system. It is the responsibility of each employee to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. To complete tasks in an ethical manner and to create their own unique work instead of copying the efforts of others. You can't be everywhere at once, policing your employees so you have to trust that they will do this on their own.
The best way to accomplish this goal is by creating a sense of community. When employees feel invested in your business, they care about its ultimate success. When they know that they are part of a team, both depending on others and with others depending on them, it increases their motivation to do well. A few years ago, a small coffee shop in North Dakota tested this theory with resounding success. They posted prices on their menu board but told patrons they were free to pay as much or as little as they would like. While many people might assume that patrons gave themselves a nice discount, in reality most people paid fifteen percent above menu price. Being part of a community encouraged them to do the right thing.
Showing your employees that you trust them goes a long way towards making them feel appreciated. By not looking over their shoulders or constantly requesting status updates you are saying that you have faith in them and their work. Of course, there are those few that will take advantage of that level of freedom. This abuse of privileges won't go unnoticed for long. Either you, or other members of your staff, will notice that things aren't getting done. You will be aware of the people who straggle in late, leave early, skip meetings or take long lunches. It is always disappointing when this happens but it needs to be dealt with quickly. Allowing someone to abuse privileges gives them license to take advantage of your other employees. This will lead to resentment and could cause you lose some of the best members of your team. If you find yourself in need of new employees check out our previous post for some great tips on finding the best fit.
Looking to Improve Your Business Success? You Need a Robust Inventory Management Solution
The honor system is critical to your business' success. When your customers and employees follow the honor system you can start to grow your business with confidence. Choosing an inventory management system involves a certain level of trust as well. Your inventory is crucial to the success of your business and you need a solution that can handle all of your inventory management needs. Stockpile is the robust inventory management solution you need. Designed for small businesses, Stockpile provides world class inventory management that grows with your business. Whether you have one location or a dozen locations it is easy to use Stockpile to track your inventory. Adding item records is quick and easy. Stockpile is fully customizable so you choose which fields make the most sense for your business. You can even include a photo in your item record for easy identification. Thanks to areas and locations you can be very specific about where items are kept. Running reports is simple as well. Just a few clicks allows you to access all the data that you need. Not in the office? No problem! Stockpile robust inventory management solution is mobile compatible so you can access your data anytime from anywhere. Want to see what we can do for you? Try Stockpile today!
