Employers up incentives to staff

An all-expenses-paid trip to Fiji. A new BMW leased for each staff member. Private concerts and parties with leading rock 'n' roll stars. These are some of the ways companies around the world have rewarded their employees at year-end.

Not all businesses are able to offer gifts this extravagant, but with bonuses and benefits being a key staff retention tool in the current war for talent, Robert Half Finance & Accounting's latest workplace study examines this issue.

When asked about bonus systems, 22 per cent of people surveyed received no bonus at all and 35 per cent received bonuses based on the employer's subjective judgement, suggesting a lack of clarity about rewards schemes on the part of the employer.

One of the main issues with bonus and benefits systems in New Zealand is that many employees are left in the dark about how their bonuses and benefits are calculated and received, says Kim Smith of Robert Half Finance & Accounting.

The most effective way to create bonuses, benefits and rewards systems that work, is to be as clear as possible about how they can be achieved and what kinds of behaviours or results are to be rewarded. With no clear direction, employees will struggle to work towards a goal, says Smith.

Payment of tuition and professional development fees was the most desirable non-traditional benefit voted for by respondents in the study, with 48 per cent of respondents preferring this benefit over any other.

Other popular non-traditional benefits were gym membership (19 per cent), the opportunity to have paid time off to do volunteer work (11 per cent) and day care options (10 per cent) are desirable among mid-career mothers, who are a key component of the New Zealand talent pool.

Benefits currently offered by New Zealand companies in the survey were mobile phone allowances (23 per cent), company car (22 per cent), health insurance (20 per cent) and meal vouchers (five per cent).

Smith suggests the following guidelines for employers when creating bonus and rewards systems:

* Offer benefit choices to employees. People's needs are different, therefore giving your employees a menu and letting them select the benefits that best fit their needs is helpful.

* No matter what form of bonus system your company takes, make sure the rules are both clear and fair.

* Don't be inconsistent, haphazard or play favourites with employee rewards. If you overlook significant achievements and reward mediocre efforts, your recognition programme will breed dissatisfaction and discontent.

* Thought should be given to how employees receive rewards. You want goals to be attainable through hard work and dedication, but not so easy that they lose meaning.