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1
08/25/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
Great article!! I will try this and include Gas cards.
Thank you.
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08/30/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
I want cash, not crappy gift cards. I get a gift card, I start polishing up my resume.
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3
09/07/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
Why not treat them as if they are valuable to their company, because if you do they will become valuable to your company.
The goal of managing people is to make the most effective use of them. The way to do this is to "lead" them to unleash their full potential of creativity, innovation, productivity, motivation and commitment on their work.
Unfortunately, most managers use the traditional top-down command and control approach to managing people making those managers their own worst enemy. This occurs because top-down naturally demeans, disrespects, demotivates, and demoralizes employees "leading" them to treat their work, their customers, each other and their bosses with a similar level of disrespect.
To better understand the right and wrong ways to manage people, please read the article "Leadership, Good or Bad"
To learn more about a superior leadership strategy, please read these Leadership Articles
Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"
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4
09/19/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
"I want cash, not crappy gift cards. I get a
gift card, I start polishing up my resume."
I think you're right, depsafetyguy, cash is a
reward and something that is used wisely in a
well-run org. However what is absolutely true
in my business is that the staff talk about and
remember the 300? x-box they got as a Christmas
gift more than the 1000? bonus at the last
review.
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09/22/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
In today's economy, cash is the best reward.
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10/04/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
More than anything, employees want to be respected and thanked for their hard work. Managers, just say "thank you." Public recognition also doesn't hurt. On the flip side, measily $5 and $10 gift cards are almost insulting, when someone goes above and beyond the call of duty.
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10/10/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
I have to say I am surprised that some folks don't appreciate a simple ?thank you? along with a small gift card. The point is to provide an immediate recognition of someone doing something right. I love it when someone catches me, or someone on my team, doing the right thing.
As to larger cash rewards, frankly, that is what PERFORMANCE reviews and PERFORMANCE bonuses are all about. And yes, I meant to put performance in all caps. These smaller perks are just that ? smaller perks.
The intent of smaller perks like those mentioned here is to be an extra way to keep people smiling. It is not part of the person?s overall compensation. If you decide to "polish your resume" when your company says thank you, then maybe they are better off with you executing your exit strategy. This type of entitlement mentality is toxic to a company.
If you think you are entitled to a bigger cash reward, does it occur to you that your company also then feels they are entitled to a bigger performance contribution from you?
Let?s keep our eye on the ball here folks. Speaking of, this weekend I am going to go hit some of the golf balls that my firm gave to me as a small thank you. I?ll smile every time I reach into the cup and see the firm name right before I write down my score.
Thanks McGuireWoods!
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10/13/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
The bonus loses value if it isn't presented with peer recognition. I was in an Army unit where the CO had a medal to present to one of my guys. He stopped him in the hallway and half-hearted said, "Here, this is for you." and barely broke stride as he continued down the hall. How much more meaningful is a monthly or weekly group meeting where your peers get to share in the acknowledgement, and you get a chance to thank those who helped you.
Empty rewards build resentment, particularly among those who feel they deserved similar treatment but were left out.
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10/20/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
I think this is a great idea. Yes, a small gift card might not feel like a lot at times but you also must remember that you have been recoginized as doing something special and now a days we are just lucky to have the job and not have been the one to be let go when the company started downsizing due to the economy. With the economy in such distress a gift card to say "Thank-you" is more then sufficient for me.
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10/27/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
For myself when it comes to employee perks, I believe it is a matter of excellence. It is knowing that you have performed your best. Sure recognition may be important to many, yet to some, not at all. Call it personal motivation, or the concept that you would be willing to sign your work daily. As a result, I posted this on one of my sites a few years ago and I like to reference it and re-read it ever so often. I hope you find that it is useful for your own purposes. I share it with you here:
Hedtke Institute: March 12 2002 18:00
Each day we find ourselves surrounded with events that we have been conditioned to believe that we have no control over. What will you do with the time you have been given while here? Have you ever thought about what your purpose is here? What you want to accomplish? What do you want to be remembered for? What kind of difference can you make to those around you? Our lives are filled with questions like these, yet we often ignore them because we don?t have the answers or the answers seem too difficult to attempt. This is my positive message to you. Put your mind to it. Put passion into what you dream and do. Make your future what you want it to be. Make a difference, because you can do it! Simply, you can do it! You have been given abilities and gifts you might not even know you have. Unless you reach into your spirit, your very being, you will miss out on the most fantastic journey you can dream. You?ve heard this all before, so don?t just try, do it! Your excellence is right in front of you, staring at you from the recesses of your mind where your spirit helps you to know this is indeed a fact. Doesn?t it make sense that you were meant for more? Can you believe in yourself, draw from that inner strength and pull yourself out of the void into the light? Yes, you can! This encouragement is to help you to rekindle the light of excellence and hope in you, to set an example to others. Allow yourself that opportunity! - Mark Hedtke, founder HI -Hedtke Institute, where using your Head is the Key.
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11/12/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
to the person wanting CASH, have given out thousands of dollars, usually $100 at a time for just knowing what is expected, and had it thrown in my face by employee's "is this all", Christmas, $500 store credit which is equal to $1000 retail,..same thing, given dinner for two tickets, the response is "where", ..... as an owner who really dosen't have to do anything, it is a slap in the face. When a bonus is given it is just that, a bonus, ever hear of being gratful? I have stopped handing out cash for that simple reason, especially when it is not appreciated at all.
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12/08/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
Many employers feel rewarding employees for a job well done is in fact a "watering bucket riddled with holes." You keep filling the bucket, but it always stays empty. People soon forget what you do for them as an employer. Loyalty and company pride is destroyed by mistrust and feelings of being unappreciated.
On a more positive note, employers can get that back by engaging their workers and giving them a scene of involvement. Listen to their ideas and value their opinions. That's the best perk you can give!
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12/16/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
I agree with mfeyas. Simple gestures as "thank yous", in general, can go a long way. This would especially be beneficial to retailers. I read today how many sales associates feel unappreciated and in some instances, not well respected. With retailers experiencing such declining sales, recognizing and appreciated associates could help to, to a certain extent, boost sales.
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12/16/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
Since this article is about "recession friendly employee perks", clearly the purpose is to give managers ideas of how they can recognize, reward and motivate employees without tons of cash. I agree that a simple thank you goes a long way -- both as an employee, and as a manager with a team whose contributions can't always be rewarded with cash or even "crappy gift cards". Every time I read comments like these I am so thankful for the hard work and professionalism of my amazing team.
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12/16/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
Well, I was given plenty of rewards, big & small, during my career in corporate IT. But in the end, it mattered for nothing when the new CEO, who just signed a $20 million cash agreement to take the company through Federal bankruptcy, told us minions that the long-term compensation we had worked hard for for many years was now worthless and that it was "Tough luck!". I've had better paydays in Las Vegas! But this was many years of unrewarded, hard, demanding, stressful work.
When the company is going to trash you, they're going to trash you regardless. And no cute stategies will change that.
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12/16/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
Working in retail is the worst job. Studies demonstrate repeatedly that it has the lowest rate of job satisfaction among most types of jobs. It is uniformly low-paying, boring & repetitive work. It's much like being a TSA agent at airport security checkpoints, but you have to handle a cash register as well.
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12/17/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
I really think that the best reward is to share management information with the employees. often worker are keeped in total darkness about the whereabout of the company and therefor even more hurt when some decision are made because nobody saw it coming.
Keeping secrets is not a way to keep power.
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12/17/08 | Report as spam
RE: Recession-Friendly Employee Perks
I believe that the reward should fit the demographics. I've worked in both the corporate and the manufacturing environments, with both large and small rewards programs. Small cash rewards fit well in lower income jobs, fact being that they could use the $20 cash reward more readily. However, small cash rewards may not be deemed appropriate for executive level. I worked at a job were they were handing out $20 gas cards...sounds great, except that most of the facility employees who were receiving the rewards car pooled, annoying me become they felt that it was thoughtless. In this case, they would have appreciated the cash reward instead.
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03/31/09 | Report as spam
"is this all", Christmas, $500 store credit which is equal to $1000 retail,..same thing, given dinner for two tickets, the response is "where",he answers seem too difficult to attempt. This is my positive message to you. Put your mind to it. Put passion into what you dream and do. Make your future what you want it to be. Make a difference, because you can do it! Simply, you can do it! You have been given abilities and gifts you might not even know you have. Unless you reach into your spirit, your very being, you will miss out on the most fantastic journey you can dream. You?ve heard this all before, so d
