Tuesday Topic: Rewarding Your Employees

We are big believers in incentives, and have used spot bonuses frequently.  As with most ideas, the devil is in the details. Deciding who gets how much, and when, is challenging.  Along with that, employees can't be asked to "keep this a secret", so information is shared and payments are compared - rarely with good outcomes.  Few employees ever believe that they deserve less than another employee.  Across-the-board spot bonuses can be as unfair as variable amounts.  We still believe in the practice, but it does come with some pitfalls.

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Mary Fowler
Chief Executive Officer
The Peoples Bank
Magnolia AR
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-10-2020 15:28
From: Barb Rehm
Subject: Tuesday Topic: Rewarding Your Employees

Bank employees around the country have been working overtime to meet heightened customer needs during the coronavirus, so you may be thinking about how best to reward these economic first responders. Harvard Business Review explains how "spot bonuses" can boost both morale and performance. These bonuses are typically paid "on the spot" to individuals or a group of employees for a specific behavior, action, or result. They usually range from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand. Have you used spot bonuses? What else are you trying to reward – and retain – your employees? If you need some ideas, check out this front-page Wall Street Journal story about companies trying to please employees by providing pet-related benefits like stipends for adoptions and insurance. Surprised me too!

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Barb Rehm
Senior Managing Director
Promontory Interfinancial Network, LLC
Arlington VA
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