Admit it; we are all motivated by money. When our employers tell us that we’re going to get more money by doing more jobs, then we do them better, don’t we? Monetary and non-monetary perks are the easiest way to retain employees. However, since money is tight these days, what all employees are looking for is a chance to earn more.
The problem is that companies are also short on cash. The pandemic wreaked havoc on their finances, so they can’t very well add to their employees’ pay officially. What they can do is provide more ways for them to earn money. These ways should also benefit the company and allow for them to save on the unnecessary cost of outsourcing these menial and technical jobs.
How Does It Work?
Generally, no company wants to spend more on employee salaries. While they may want to help their employees financially, they cannot commit to giving them more compensation than what was already agreed upon when they first joined the organization. Businesses do not have that kind of money anymore to add to their employees’ pays officially. Higher salaries mean a more productive workforce, but it also increases the company’s overhead expenses. This is something most companies cannot afford right now.
What they can do is provide ways for their employees to earn that extra cash. There are a variety of odd and menial jobs around the office. Instead of hiring for each of them, you can pay your existing workers to do the jobs. Bonuses, referrals, and additional tasks are good ways for employees to earn more.
Referrals
There are two ways a referral system will work. First, if your employees can refer customers to your business. And second, if they can refer people who you can hire. The first one is straightforward. The employees have to invite customers to buy products from the company. Employees get points for every person they referred that bought from the business.
The second is more complicated. Employee referral software will help you with this method. The present employees need to recommend people from their network to job positions in the company. When you officially hire a person your employees have recommended, you can give them a referral fee. This will encourage them to invite people to join your business. This is an important measure that is lost on many companies that do not tap their existing network to find employees who are a good fit.
Bonuses
You can also give employees bonuses based on their consistency, ability to meet quotas, and boost sales. Companies should set business goals and milestones every month. When the team meets these milestones, your job is to provide them with bonuses commensurate to the goals they fulfilled.
For example, the goal for your social media team is to acquire 50 more highly engaged followers for the month. This is actually a very lofty goal for businesses because highly engaged social media users are not very keen to simply follow brands. But if the team is able to achieve this goal, then they deserve a bonus—not a raise, but a bonus. It will be a one-time compensation for every time you set a lofty goal that they’re able to meet.
Extra Jobs
Finally, you can make them do extra jobs in the office. Are you thinking of hiring a social media manager to take care of your posts? Why not ask around the office? Maybe someone has been doing this on the side (don’t feel bad if employees take side jobs). You can hire people from the inside since they have more knowledge about your business. If you are already going to pay someone else to do the job, then why not strike a deal with your own employee?
Many employers would outsource several tasks to freelancers without asking if someone else in the office can do the job. You have two reasons for hiring someone from the inside: the first is that they know the business very well, so they will make better choices, and the second is that they deserve the chance to earn when the employers can provide the opportunity. It’s a win-win situation.
Although money is a great motivator, it goes without saying that businesses right now cannot afford higher salaries. The least they can do, however, is to provide a way for their employees to earn that extra cash. Whether it be through referrals, sales bonuses, or doing extra jobs, the formula is also proven to be beneficial to employers.
