Growing Together: Monetary Incentives To Engage Your Team

In last week’s blog, we’ve established that financial compensation alone is rarely ever enough to attract the majority of the current workforce to apply or stay in a job. While there’s no replacement for salary, employees are looking at a host of other benefits to help fulfill less tangible needs. As an employer, it’s up to you to learn about those needs and figure out how you can satisfy them.

One of the first and most common benefits that employers give employees is healthcare. This makes sense given how healthcare can provide people a sense of security, sparing them from out-of-pocket medical expenses when they get sick. But that’s just it; the benefit is only ever worth it when a person needs medical attention.

That’s not to say that healthcare is not important. Everyone actually needs healthcare. However, if you’re trying to build a team of young professionals, they probably won’t get much use out of the benefit.

Let’s admit it, it’s common for the 20- to 30-somethings of today to put off check-ups and doctor visits until they really feel ill. After all, they’re much less at-risk of being disabled or dying from a health issue than those older than them. For this reason, healthcare alone might prove ineffective in enticing and engaging them. So what else can you give them?

How about extra money on top of basic compensation? Everyone needs and uses money. It is why people work jobs to begin with. But the extra money referred to here is not a pay raise, not a bonus, or anything of the sort. It’s monetary reward with investment features that’s capable of making higher future returns. Not all employees are aware of the perks of proper financial planning. But with a little push, that could all change. You, as the employer, are essentially the one giving them that push by introducing and implementing mutual fund investment to and for them through this program.

Of course, the mutual fund investment will be managed by a third-party asset management professional. The objective is to maximize the growth of the money invested while you continue to set aside the cash reward as your employees’ savings.

The monetary reward program entails an agreement between employer and employee. In return for a monthly cash reward from the employer, the employee promises to stay with the company for an agreed number of years. However, the sum of the cash reward and its returns will only be awarded if the employee finishes the length of stay initially agreed on. And since this is not mandated by law, you can customize the program to your liking. You can even choose who among your valued employees you want to incentivize and include in this program.

What’s even better is that you can also introduce this as a savings scheme for the employees who want to benefit from a personal investment. You’ll have to obviously get their consent first to course this personal savings through salary deduction. But that is where the convenience lies. The employees will get their pay net of everything, including their savings, and spend their salary without worrying about saving for their or their family’s future. This will help them develop the habit of saving and investing. And this is something they can take with them whether they stay with your company or move to work for another.

When a program is designed properly, there’s not a lot of reasons for your employees to refuse participation. Sometimes it’s only a matter of educating them a bit. For instance, if an employee sets aside, say, Php 300 a month, that equates to saving Php 10 a day. You can ask them: What’s Php 10 a day worth to you? If they can make those sacrifices today, they’ll surely be rewarded in the future. It’s really all about seeing the bigger picture, as with most things in financial planning.

In the end, that’s what will feel rewarding to you as an employer, that you’re empowering them to be better versions of themselves by imparting these learnings. It’s not just about money, but also about growth. And as we discussed in last week’s blog, when your company grows, make sure everyone grows with it.

We at Bridges-PH help create comprehensive financial plans for our SME and MSME clients, specializing in competitive employee benefit packages and wealth-building retirement programs. Call us today at +63917 891 9069 or send us an email at janetnng@bridges-ph.com to learn more about what we do and how we can help you.