Seven ways to properly compensate your workers
It’s no secret how crucial employees are to your business’ success. With a great team on your side, you can easily and quickly attain your business goals and objectives.
That said, it’s important to reward them for their contribution and hard work. Employees who feel appreciated and valued are motivated to perform better and stay around for a long time.
Fortunately, compensating your workforce properly doesn’t always have to be in the form of cash. You can use several compensation plans to encourage them to work harder and stick with your company.
Here are seven ways to compensate your workers for their hard work and loyalty, without compromising their pay packet.
1) Pay them with salaries and incentives
Of course, the most important way of compensating your employees is through salaries and incentives.
Salary refers to a compensation given to an employee for performing all the duties and responsibilities required of them, whereas an incentive refers to a commission or bonus that aims to motivate them to fulfill or exceed their goals.
Unlike other forms of compensation, paying your employees with their salaries monthly or bi-monthly is required by law. So, if you’re not sure of your legal requirements, you should check your state’s minimum wage rules, so you’ll know how to structure a fair salary scale for your employees.
It is important to create a compensation philosophy that takes into consideration the goals, culture, and values of your organization when it comes to structuring salary scales. You can even find examples of these philosophies online, including those developed by corporate giants such as Amazon and Citi.
On the other hand, if you want to retain your top talent for a long time, you shouldn’t hesitate to pay them with some incentives after meeting certain targets.
2) Offer some stipend
In addition to salaries, you can also offer some forms of stipend to your employees to keep them happier and more productive.
Typically, a stipend refers to a predetermined amount of money paid to some workers to help defray some of their expenses. However, it’s generally much lower than your regular salary, which is why most leading organizations consider it as part of their creative benefit solutions.
Luckily, stipends can be offered in many ways. Whether you’re running a law firm, bank, or educational institution, you can include stipends as part of your compensation plan.
For example, if one of your employees want to adopt a child, you can offer an adoption stipendto help them pay the related expenses. Also, if you want them to have some time off from work, you can provide them with a vacation stipend to pay their vacation expenses.
These stipend offerings can help gain plenty of goodwill and loyalty by demonstrating you are a supportive employer who values your team.
3) Compensate them with paid time-off benefits
As mentioned, cash isn’t the only way to compensate your employees for doing their job. If you want to keep them motivated, you can also offer paid time-off benefits. These can include:
- Vacation leave – This is a paid time off from work in the form of leave credits. This allows your employees to relax and enjoy a vacation within a certain amount of time.
- Sick leave – This is also a paid time off from work given in the form of leave credits. This lets your employees address their health issues and concerns.
- Holiday pay – This allows your employees to receive an additional payment on top of their regular salary on holidays even without working.
- Lifestyle spending account (LSA) – These provide after-tax funds for everyday need expenses not covered by traditional benefits, which can save employers time from managing extra reimbursements. Benepass explains lifestyle spending accounts and their value for employees.
Every employee needs time off from work to avoid burnout, which ultimately will affect the overall productivity of your business. So it’s always a great idea to include some of the above-mentioned benefits in your compensation package.
These will not only motivate your employees to stay, but will also help attract new talent during the recruitment process.
4) Reward them with free food
Another perfect way to reward your employees is by providing them with free tasty treats, especially during long work days.
Whether you beep your office stocked with snacks or treat them to lunch, offering free food can be an excellent inclusion to your compensation package.
By offering free food, you can make sure everyone in your team if fully fuelled and energised – especially if you opt for healthy snacks such as fruit. So ask your workers what treats and snacks they’d love to perk up a tiring work day.
5) Sponsor free training courses for them
If you’re looking for new opportunities for business growth, you might want to consider rewarding your workforce with free training courses.
These courses can give their credentials a boost, which can help them achieve their long-term career goals and objectives – and can also help them perform their role for you more effectively.
Generally, as an employer, you should make your employees feel valued by supporting their career growth and development. So find appropriate courses that your business can sign up for.
Remember, offering your employees with training courses as part of your compensation plan can go a long way in making them happy and satisfied with their jobs.
6) Provide them with insurance benefits
The healthier your staff, the healthier your business. So it pays to properly compensate your employees with insurance benefits to help them take care of their wellbeing while at work. These insurance benefits can include:
- Medical insurance – This insurance can be used by your employees to pay their medical expenses, such as hospital bills, doctors’ fees, prescription drugs, and more. In short, this insurance benefit can be used if they are hospitalized for a reason specified in the policy.
- Disability insurance – This type of insurance can be used by your workers if an accident, injury, or illness causes them a temporary or permanent disability, which affects their ability to work. When this happens, you can offer this insurance benefit to financially support them.
7) Provide them with flexible work hours
Your employees have personal lives outside work. Even if they’re working for you at least eight hours a day, they still need to meet their other obligations.
So, aside from their salaries, it’s also a good idea to compensate them with flexible work hours, allowing them to achieve work-life balance satisfaction.
Research shows that when employees are offered flexible working, they are more productive and much happier in their jobs. As a result, you, as an employer, can reduce staff turnover and increase your chances of success.
How can you keep your employees happy?
As you can see, there are many different ways to properly compensate your workers. Just find the right combination of compensation benefits and recognition that will work best for your employees.
