Small Budget Big Rewards Creative Compensation

What do ballgames, flextime, cell phones, trips to Florida and a well timed pat on the back have in common?

These are just a few of the creative compensation options companies are using today to attract and retain employees. What is your company's compensation package saying about you? Compensation packages can be linked to business structure, employee recruitment, retention, motivation, performance, feedback, loyalty, and satisfaction. Compensation is typically among the first things potential employees consider when looking for employment. It is important, therefore, to give a good bit of consideration to your company's compensation structure. After all, for employees, compensation is the equivalent not to how they are paid, but ultimately, to how they are valued.

According to a Society for Human Resource Management survey, the benefits that prove the most effective in hiring and retaining good employees cut across all industries. 1-Good health care insurances, 2-a competitive salary, 3-generous vacation and holiday benefits, 4-family friendly benefits, 5-creative personal services, 6-generous financial incentives and 7-liberal business travel policies.

Expierience has shown that if an employee uses benefits and likes them and stays with the organization as a result of them, that saves you an incredible amount of money in recruitment costs, advertising, lost productivity and possibly the most important, the loss of institutional knowledge. Just being able to keep those star employees is invaluable to any organization.

Employer Costs For Employee Compensation

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Some benefits cost no money but require an investment from you. Take actions to make your staff feel valued, respected, supported, and energized to maintain or increase productivity.

• Honest and frequent praise. Don't let employees say that the only time they hear from management is when something goes wrong.
• Timely and constructive feedback. When an employee completes a project, talk about it, ask your employees to suggest ways to facilitate a similar project in the future and most importantly, emphasize how much you value his or her hard work.
• Get to know your employees as individuals. Set up time to meet with your employees on a one-on-one basis. Find out what assignments they find particularly challenging and make it a point to consider that person for such a job in the future. Ask them what they find distracting or unsatisfying about their work environment.