Time to show them the money

Jo Faragher

Money talks, according to a new study by incentive solutions company Xactly. Its research found that cold hard cash was the main motivator for 27% of UK employees, and that more than two-thirds felt that a financial bonus would motivate them to push towards their next professional goal.

We all know that money has been tight for employers in recent years. Increases in pay awards have been stagnant in the private sector and virtually non-existent in the public sector, and in many companies it’s been a case of ‘Well you have a job don’t you? What more do you want?’

Plenty of employers used this fallow period to become more creative with how they shaped their reward, either by communicating more effectively how employees could get the best out of perks such as season ticket loans, or by beefing up non-financial rewards such as volunteering days or opportunities for training.

But Xactly’s research shows that a financial motivator can be a useful tool in the workplace – despite the fact that 45% are on a fixed pay rate with no potential for a bonus. It also shows the key role financial incentives have to play in boosting productivity – an issue that is constantly raised when we’re trying to drum up better performance from British businesses.

Even the Government acknowledges that a bit more money can be a valuable thing when it comes to getting people to work harder or feel more engaged with their work, and the new national living wage is part of a drive towards this. Xactly argues that “smart, performance-based financial reward” can also have a role in giving an extra push to employees in just the right places.

This could be in the form of a fixed bonus when a certain project is completed to an appropriate standard and to the right deadline, or a scale of financial incentives for demonstrating certain behaviours that help the company achieve its goals.

And while it’s helpful to offer a mix of incentives from duvet days to money-off vouchers, a little, well-placed extra money in the monthly payroll could provide a greater return on investment than you think, so will be well worth the extra cost in the long run.