Though it may sound surprising, money doesn’t top of the list of things employees need from a company to know that they’re appreciated. Instead employees look for qualities in a company such as respect, appreciation, freedom, creativity and flexibility. But at the same time, money still plays a pretty big role. For instance, money tends to show up high on the list when it comes to employee stressors, and other factors. But realistically money will decrease stress; however it can’t increase company morale.
The real issue comes down to budgeting. No matter how much money a person is making a year, chances are, they aren’t spending it well. We don’t take the time to sit down and create budgets, and therefore we are constantly overspending. And even worse, financial stress can take a toll of a person’s work performance and to reach out and try to give advice may be extremely rude as a supervisor.
Many large companies respond to these issues with large bonuses, no matter what their reasoning may be. Perhaps they offer a $300 end-of-quarter bonus and a $1,000 holiday bonus. But even still, if this money is expected, it isn’t helping anyone.
The answer may be simpler, and even more cheap. It’s best to aware bonuses irregularly in smaller amounts in return for outstanding performance. Imagine how excited your employees would be if you walked in on a Friday morning meeting and said, “I’m so impressed with everyone’s work this month. You’ve all done spectacularly. You’ll notice $50 has been directly deposited into each of your bank accounts.” Can you imagine the response? The employees would be thrilled, and motivated to continue doing well. The productivity level can directly be related to how much encouragement and acknowledgment is being made towards employees.
In general people want to be recognized for their work, and a reward, even as small as $50. Large, infrequent and scheduled bonuses don’t boost morale or recognize performance of the employees. They can’t decrease financial burdens and they don’t act as effective motivation for employees. A bonus should only occur when an astounding job is completed.
Overall frequent small bonuses help manage your company. Your employees are producing quality work for your company, and in turn you are showing your appreciate and still encouraging more productive work to be accomplished. This doesn’t even include the boost of morale and decrease in money stress.