Webroyalty

Upon production of receipts, the company would reimburse its employees for water and energy bills up to $2,000 in each financial year. A few earnest souls decided that this reimbursement might encourage employees to waste water and energy – highly unlikely for the vast majority of people, but never mind. These same earnest souls proposed that, instead of this reimbursement, the company offer holiday vouchers to the value of $2,000. Fortunately the idea was canned and the benefit has now been tweaked so that employees receive a cash benefit for the amount not claimed by the end of the financial year.

The problem with offering holidays rather than cash is that some employees desperately need the cash for basics. The number of working poor seems to be increasing and it’s hard to predict who the working poor might be simply by their salaries because some people have very costly hidden expenses eg medical.

An enforced holiday in the Bahamas would be the ultimate in stress and depression if you couldn’t afford a decent swimsuit etc and a few extras so you could enjoy it. I’d probably spend the weekend in the hotel room worrying about how the electricity would be cut off by the time I got back home.

I may be jaded from working in my current industry but I believe loyalty needs to be to yourself and not to a company.

It does raise an interesting question about how companies can build loyalty but the deep down honest answer in my opinion is that they can’t.

This isn’t the days of Mom and Pop companies that allowed people to work there forever and understood personal intricacies. This is the era of the corporations that are only interested in their bottom line which in turn makes the employee dwell in that concern as well.

Sorry if this comes off as pessimistic I am just being honest. Love the blog.

On the other hand, I have seen no comment on the subject that occurred to me right away: I would much rather my employer offered me a bonus that thoughtfully reflected my needs: if she knows I don’t earn as much as I’d like to, I’d like her to offer me the cash to help make up for the deficit. If she knows I need the time off because work has been hectic, I like her to offer me the time off, and sure, help with expenses so I can actually vacation and not just stay home for a few days. I appreciate Bernie’s comments regarding the unnecessary dilemma that making the employee choose would generate.

Bottom line, as I see it, is that people want to *matter* to those around them. If I think my employer is trying to manipulate me, like Doctor Jay says, then no “bonus” will be seen as generous or welcome, because the underlying trust obviously doesn’t exist. Even an employer who pays minimum wage can make employees feel valued, and even a six figure salary won’t make up for a boss who doesn’t give a damn about who works for him. Either you *matter*, in which case, your boss does what she can to make you feel it, or you *don’t*, in which case your boss probably won’t make an effort to offer a bonus you would actually appreciate.

Despite Microsoft’s reputation I suspect that paying people to search is going to set a negative image and reference point for this service and this will create a long term barrier for its use

The money please. Maslow’s hierarchy