Most employers know that they have to use a carrot-and-stick method of making sure that their employees stay productive. You have to bribe them in a sense by offering the benefits that they are seeking. You also have to punish them (or have the threat of punishment) when the benefits aren’t working. Unfortunately, most employers have some strong misconceptions of what truly motivates employees to be productive which hinders their ability to offer the right carrots and to wield the right sticks. At the top of the list of misconceptions is that employers think wages are the most important benefit to offer to employees when that’s really not the case at all.
Most employers believe that good wages and regular raises are a key benefit to offer to employees to motivate them to stay productive. The truth is that there are several benefits that employees value more than wages which might be smarter to offer to create higher levels of productivity in the office place. Employees are actually more likely to be motivated by regular praise, respect in the office place, a sense of having a real voice in the business and some level of job security. These things matter more to most people than high wages do. That’s great news for employers who also benefit from offering these things. Better morale and a sense of community in the office makes it better for everyone to be there including the boss and it means that you don’t have to lose so much money to high wages for your staff.
This doesn’t mean that you can skimp on wages altogether, though. Wages are one thing that will help motivate employees to be productive even though they aren’t at the top of the list. It’s certainly important for employees to feel that they are making a fair wage at the place where they work. It is also important that there are regular raises in place so that the employee feels that he or she is working towards something. So wages are one so-called carrot to keep in your box of tools but it’s important to realize that this shouldn’t be the only carrot (or even the main one) that you use as an employer.
In fact, you may want to start thinking about using it as a stick. Tactful discipline actually ranks really low on the list of things that motivates employees towards productivity. An approach to discipline that isn’t so nice, and includes rescinding wages as appropriate, could be a better way to approach encouraging productivity in the office when the benefits and perks around the business aren’t working. Do this sparingly and in accordance with the laws and regulations for your company and you may find that business perks up.
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I think that one thing employees value is flexibility in their work, for example, if they need to work from home one day or take some time off.