Every small business needs to motivate their employees in order foe the
team to work more efficiently and produce better results. Using
monetary and other rewards to improve motivation is a simple idea, but
doing it fairly and effectively can be challenging.
Therefore the difficult question is ‘How can you create a compensation
program that motivates employees, results in a more productive staff
and is administered fairly and effectively?’ Here are some valuable
tips.
1. Establish an action plan: Set realistic goals in your action plan.
You must always reward top performance and must be as clear as
possible in establishing realistic and fair goals. This is because
effective communication is the key ingredient for the entire
program.
2. Be creative in determining rewards: Before you launch the plan,
decide the reward. The reward need not always be cash. Recent
studies have proven that non-cash rewards are more attractive and
effective than cash rewards. Offering flexible working hours and
the occasional Friday afternoon off have proven to be great
rewards. If cash flow is a problem, then why not implement non cash
rewards to motivate your staff!
3. Group rewards may be appropriate, but don’t undermine individual
initiative: Most businesses tend to reward the group and limit
individual rewards as base pay to keep the simplicity of the
program. However, that may result in lowerindividual initiative and
innovation. It is important for individual contribution to be
valued separately to the group when it is outstanding.
4. Finally, it is important to keep motivation going:Once you have
achieved success, don’t forget to celebrate! Keep thinking of
creative ways to increase your motivational strategies, including
making use of retreats, team-building exercises and travel where
relevant. Always keep in mind that a motivated workforce will be
happier, more productive and more profitable, and it ensures a fun
place to work.
James Solomons 