FAST TIP: Give the 'Immediate Gratification' of an Instant Bonus!
Sure, your workers LOVE sincere Public Recognition! But no employee ever told me, “Oh, Steve, don’t pay me more money!” (“Date Night” certificates and other small gifts are big winners too!)
So how can you get maximum traction out of the “Dynamic Motivational Duo” of Public Recognition AND Money? Don’t include small bonuses in employee’s paychecks. Instead…
Give a crisp $10.00 or $20.00 bill to an ‘above and beyond’ worker! (Along with a sincere “THANK YOU”!)
Think about it. Who usually gets your tech’s paycheck? That’s right- Mama! But handing out small CASH ‘recognition bonuses’ gives your workers some IMMEDIATE ‘mad money’ to spend as they wish! This is incredibly ‘motivating’!
RESOURCE: The very best route to ‘motivated employees’? Hire ‘self motivated’ Very Best People! HOW to do this? Check out our 3-hour, online SFS: Hire the Very Best! LIVE seminar HERE…
How to handle the tax consequences of giving small cash bonuses? It is still legal to give a gift! HOWEVER, as always get professional accounting advice before changing employee compensation systems.
For example, I would say to an ‘extra effort’ employee, “Wow, Charlie, thanks for working a long shift. Here’s 20 bucks from me!” These small ‘recognition spiffs’ paid off big time!
SUGGESTION: When rewarding employees always lean toward generous bonuses and/or commissions instead of raising their base pay. Why? Because “a raise is forever” while a bonus/commission is variable depending on the employee’s performance. Even better…
A bonus gives your people Immediate Gratification! (A raise appears much smaller and has less ‘motivational impact’ on your employee.) And for you? Just do the math on a $100.00 bonus versus giving your employee a small .25 per hour raise over the next 12 months. ($100.00 now versus $520.00 over the next year and it continues!) WOW!
Restoration HINT: Your goal in restoration? To create Cheerleader Adjusters that will fight to get you in on the loss! How to do it? Focus on the traumatized emotions of the Insured! So split 2% of the entire loss amount among the team that worked the loss IF the Insured is delighted! And with no complaints! (I would include this Insured Cheerleader Bonus in their paychecks.)
Commercial HINT: What is your commercial goal? PRODUCTION! The more efficient your team is the more profit for everyone! So implement an Employee Efficiency Bonus among your commercial techs and watch those production numbers (and your profits) explode!
ALL of the (great) ideas above are so much easier if you ‘Hire the Very Best’ HERE! I’m just sayin…
Steve