Employee Bonuses

A good wage, a pay cheque on time, good reliable gear and equipment, a regular pat on the back and job well done, a helping hand on hard days, honesty and integrity from their boss, a day off whenever they need it, donuts every couple of weeks, a summer golf tournament or paintball war whatever they want, a family picnic once or twice a year, 5% commission of any job they bring in, and a Christmas gift at the end of the year consisting of a cheque for $250.00 - $500.00.
 
We have a bonus program for all field employees. One may recieve a $2000 bonus tax free at Christman time. If an employee damages any property costomers or our own the cost comes out of that $2000. The employee can also choose to fix the damage themselvs off the clock. Cost of any injuries also comes out of the $2000. We started this incentive program 2 years ago with remarkable sucsess. Being a manager of around 45 employees I used to spend way too much time fixing all of thier screw ups. Before the program I always had 2 or 3 problems I had to fix on my plate. This also includes just bad dissisions like not putting down plywood when you had it. Or letting wood fly instead of rigging it. Those ruts need to get fixed and I had to deal with it. All of those headaches have all but been eliminated. No more dented gutter, no more broken light, no more oil on the driveway, it goes on and on and on and on and on and on.
 
Lets see..........45 employees at $2000.00 bonus each is 90k. WOW, you guys must of been having some kind of damage and accident rate.
 
i have always hated production bonus programs. i think they are a cheap way to give out a raise. odds are you will not get the bonus every time and when you do it does no equal the money you would have gotten from an hourly wage increase. a christmas bonus, quarterly bonus, and profit share have been good for me though in the past. i worked for one company that would buy steaks and beer every friday and have a cook out. that went a long way for good crew moral and it was cheap and simple.
 
The figure is a bit lower than that because of the seasonal help, they do not get as much( less exposure).Our damage rate is about normal the amount of work we do. Our injury rate is much lower than the norm, but there was a trend around here we noticed the last couple of years.Worker A, would come into my office and say my shoulder hurts. I would ask why? what happened. Worker saya I was dragging brush blah blah blah. I would have to send him to the clinic. A few xrays later plus a few days rest off work comes too around $2000. Worker A works a couple of days still complains goes back to the doctor and gets an MRI a few days off another $3000. MRI shows nothing. Worker a is back to work and just fine. Worker B cuts his hand with handsaw. 5 stiches 2 days off, plus no climbibg for 10 days. Paying climber rate but no climbing. Cost $2000 or $3000. These things also stongly influence or insurance rares. We also supply all climbing gear. If climber b nicks there lanyard or rope and needs to be replace prematurly that will come out of there fund. If worker A forgets to put fuel in a machine and it runs out on the job the entire cost of the down time of the crew comes out of thier fund, plus the machanics time to get the machine running again. All of these costs add up. With our incentive program the workers are much smarter and SAFER. I do not know all of the real numbers but the boss is very happy with the results.
 
at the risk of sounding like a grouch...........if an empployee needs an incentive to do the job right on top of his regular take home pay, then he's in the wrong job.
 
bullman- I don't think I am in the wrong business if I am an employee of a small, medium or corp business who helps to make my company more money then I am an asset. I get daily incentive from my regular pay, but to retain an employee then you need to value that employee.

Chad- elaborate on this prod incentive vs. hourly wage increase, por favor.

Tod K and Alberta-0 it sounds like you guys have great programs going.

Steve
 
i agree with you, i was referring to the minority who think they are owed something and wont give 100% unless they are getting an incentive.
 
bandito-san,
in short it is my personal feeling that segmented wage increases based upon performance are a better thank you than a production bonus based upon making a job come out. just because a job doesnt come out doesnt mean i didnt work my ass off for it. the hourly increses tell me i do a good job rain or shine and my hard work and efforts have been noticed despite the bad days. this is just my opinion and it doesnt mean a production bonus cannot work effectively, nor that i will refuse a prodution bonus if it is offered to me. but i work hard with or with out it.
 
pound for pound a employee is the most valuble asset you can have in a business. think of how much a new bucket truck costs or a new chipper or any of the other equipment that we use in our trade. and that said you still need a employee to operate that peice of equipment for it to make you money and that will only be profitable if that employee is skilled enough to get the most out of that equipment with the least cost involved without comprimising saftey and quality. but incentive programs not only save the boss money and help the employees make a little more money but they also create a safer and more professional work enviroment.
 
Craig-

Just to let you know I'm not in favor of any wage setting or union run arboriculture down in the U.S. That is why I work in the private side of arboriculture and not for a municipality. Aside from that my supervisor has done a good job of awarding wage increases for meeting cert, license, and applicator type of objectives which I think is a great incentive. The only absence I have seen by them in retaining employees is a yearly type of review that would award dedication and hard work.

I am not trying to sound disgruntled here(b/c I'm not), but you always gotta look out for yourself!

Estebandito
 
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