How do you compensate your key people? I feel I am doing ok, however, there is always room for improvment on my part. Would appreciate input from the masses.
[ March 14, 2003, 08:57 PM: Message edited by: Rick Beisiegel ]
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3486 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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Ya wanna know what your employees in cold sunny wintery Michigan want???
They want YOU to pay for a nice sunny week in Florida or Jamaica or Bermuda or Mexico or Barbados or ANYWHERE other than Michigan!!! LOL LOL LOL
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
Some things that worked for me with my employee...
Let them leave early on a Friday with full pay just for fun.
Get them little gifts for no reason. I gave my employee a watch just like mine one day because she commented that she liked it.
On their birthday, bring in a present and a cake, and make sure you can find everyone plus more to sing to them. It looks like they're embarrassed, but in all honesty, we all love positive attention.
Create a bonus program for them. If they can output x amount of work, or create x amount of new work, you can offer a percentage of it to them. They love cash.
Be flexible with days off. Instead of holidays all in one lump, you can offer them days at a time too. This worked especially well with my employee as she loved camping and if she had Friday off during the summer, she was as happy as can be.
Make sure you have at least one belly laugh a day. Work should be enjoyable as well as profitable. Gotta have fun!
Some of these things I am already doing, but the others are great! I especially like the paid day off thing and so will she. Retaining them is important to me, especially long term. It's easier now with the shakey economy, but I want loyalty when jobs become more plentiful too! Our customers love consistency, knowing who is on the phone when they call. Keep your ideas coming! Thanks folks.
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3486 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I used to have a problem with "cabin fever" about this time of the year when it's just starting to warm up. On a Friday at noon, I would call everyone together and asked if everything was caught up. If so, I'd have them follow me out to a local park and have some BBQ pork butt and a few beers (I cater BBQ's in the summer). Most of us would stay until dark, but that's only around 7pm this time of year. I always made sure that they knew that this outting was in appreciation for their long hours and hard work. It was good for attendance and great for morale.
-------------------- Terry Baird Baird Signs 3484 West Lake Rd. Canandaigua, NY 14424 Posts: 790 | From: Canandaigua, New York | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Hiya Rick, I feel the best way to motivate your employees is to educate them and make them part of the business. Offer them bonuses and profit sharing. Give them days off for good attendance. Be sure to say thanks for a job well done. Be flexible too, sometimes money isn't the motivation we think it is.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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A good selections of tools is very important. Or employees understood the importance and value of our tools and respected them too. I alwasy insisted on enough tools for every employee, plus at least one spare. (we used to have 20 employees)
When I went out for supplies I would always take an employee along with me to help load & such. It gave me some valuable alone time to have a chat with them. I would let them know how I had observed their progress as well as listening to their concerns in their lives. I was always positive in a truthful manner.
We always tried to be upfront with our employees about how things were in the company... how many jobs we were bidding on and where we were hoping to go with the company. Not specifics but generalities as the flow of work wasn't always consistent.
We were flexible with their time... if they had a doctors appointment or other important personal matter we honored it.
We tried to have fun during the work day. Every work day. And we always celebrated the work we achieved each day.
Crew birthdays warranted an extra long coffe break... with a cake of course for the entire crew.
When an employee was moving we used the compay trailer and made it a fun event.
Once a month or so we would 'have a safety meeting'. The business was dispensed with quickly and the rest of the afternoon was to take in a matinee of an exciting show that we were looking forward to.
We raised our employees pay twice a year, and tied it to their progress in learning new things and skills.
And at Christmas we bonused our employees and had a dinner for the entire crew & their significant others.
A letterhead meet in Banff with the entire crew in attendance was the highlight of one year.
Another year the crew did exceptionally well and we did an icredible amount of work that year... and as a result we took the entire crew to Disneyland and surrounding attractions for a 12 day learning excursion. We wanted them to see the work of the very best in our industry.
We respected each of our employees and treated them as family. We encouraged them to treat each other the same way. And in return all looked forward to work each day. I think I had more fun that any of them.
All of the above and a lot more kept our crew motivated and eager to achieve while they were with us. Most importantly I felt it important to let each employee know of their value to our effort. It didn't matter what their job description - all contributed to the final product and took pride in it.
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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