Happy and motivated employees mean much more than just a pleasant workplace. Research indicates that happy employees are more productive than their unhappy peers. They’re also likely to stick around longer. Conversely, unmotivated employees are extremely costly to businesses. One
Gallup study determined that disengaged employees cost companies a staggering $300 billion in lost productivity annually.
The imperative for business owners looking to curb attrition and improve performance? Employee happiness and motivation matter. All of which begs the question of how to motivate your business staff. Read on for five employee incentive ideas aimed at cultivating happy and motivated business employees toward a better bottom line for you.
1. Applaud attendance and loyalty
When your business is short-handed, service is likely to suffer. But that’s not all: A consistently understaffed business may also lead to low morale and, ultimately, attrition. Creating an attendance-based business employee reward system can motivate employees to show up as scheduled, thereby minimizing call-ins and absences.
Rewarding loyalty is also important. Is there a particular employment milestone you’re looking for staff to reach? Rewarding employees who meet this benchmark can motivate others to stay.
Keep in mind that while cash awards are always appreciated, other awards, such as paid days off and flexible schedules, also have value.
2. Implement team and individual incentives for performance
Wondering whether to set staff incentives according to team or individual incentives? There are pros and cons to both. While the former motivates staff to work together toward a common goal, the latter lets business celebrate their highest-achieving employees while facilitating competition. Implementing a mix of team and individual performance incentives is a best of both worlds’ solution.
Again, while monetary awards are popular, there are less costly (and even free!) ways to motivate and reward staff for their performance, such as by assigning them preferential parking spots. Post a thank you note on their door in their honor. Write about them in a company-wide email or invite them to a one-on-one lunch.
3. Establish short term goals
How can your staff know whether they are meeting performance expectations if you haven’t provided clearly defined goals? While long-term goals may make sense from a management perspective, small, short-term, and achievable goals work well for empowering and motivating business staff.
But goal setting isn’t just about letting employees know how they’re doing. It’s also a motivational tool in and of itself. Setting specific and challenging goals (and providing appropriate feedback) directly correlates with better task performance.
4. Acknowledge their efforts
Praise seems like a natural extension of establishing goals and implementing performance incentives. However, many business managers and owners fall short when it comes to offering staff the positive feedback they crave. Positive feedback is a logical motivator of performance and yet praise is painfully absent. Not only that, but it costs you nothing.
The takeaway for business owners and managers looking to keep their employees motivated with business employee incentives? Because of its power, ridiculously low cost, and rarity, praising employees is one of the greatest lost opportunities in the business world today.
5. Show them their value
Speaking of showing them you care; today’s workers are looking for more than a paycheck. They’re also looking to be part of something. Giving employees a voice helps them feel connected, valued, respected, and engaged. There are many ways for businesses to do this and create a win-win situation, including offering professional development opportunities such as training courses to help with employee advancement.
Staff retention and poor employee performance are major pain points for businesses. However, they don't have to be. Investing in employee happiness and motivation by adopting these five incentive tips is also an investment in the comprehensive well-being of your business.
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Are You Ready for When Form I-9 Flexibility Ends?
Under this U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule, which was first announced on March 20, 2020, if your employees are working remotely as a result of COVID-19, you may initially inspect those employees’ identity and work authorization documents remotely (e.g., by video link, fax, or email) to verify or, if necessary, re-verify, their work eligibility, the rule also makes clear that, once those remote employees commence or resume non-remote work, you must physically inspect their original documents, in person, within three business days. At that time, you must also make a note in the Additional Information field of the employee’s Form I-9, reflecting the date you did this follow-up inspection and who conducted it.
This Form I-9 flexibility rule was initially set to expire on May 19, 2020, but, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, DHS extended the rule several times. Initially, the rule applied only to employers and workplaces that were operating entirely remotely, but the flexibilities were later extended to cover all employees working exclusively on a remote basis because of COVID-19. Under its most recent guidance, announced on May 26, 2021, DHS indicated that the flexibility rule would be extended through August 31, 2021.
Over the past months, many employers have used the Form I-9 flexibility rule to onboard employees who were initially hired to work on a remote basis or to re-verify incumbent employees working remotely. However, as the pandemic has subsided, many of those employees are now starting or resuming work at their employers’ regular offices and workplaces.
Employers should remember that, when these remote employees begin working non-remotely, the employer needs to follow up – within three days – to conduct the in-person document inspection. But what if an employee does not fully return to the regular workplace all at once, but instead “phases in” to a more regular routine? DHS has indicated that remote employees covered by the rule are temporarily exempt from the normal Form I-9 in-person inspection requirements “until they undertake non-remote work on a regular, consistent, or predictable basis, or the extension of the flexibilities related to such requirements is terminated, whichever is earlier.” This does suggest that an employer’s obligation to do the physical inspection does not commence simply because the employee works non-remotely a single time or on isolated occasions.
Employers can do the in-person document inspections before they are legally required. The DHS has stated that the flexibilities “do not preclude employers from commencing, in their discretion, the in-person verification of identity and work authorization documentation” for employees initially verified remotely under the rule. In addition, unless the flexibility rule is extended again, it will expire on August 31, 2021. Employers will then have three days after that to complete the physical document inspections for every employee who was initially verified remotely, regardless of whether that employee is still working exclusively on a remote basis.
For this reason, employers who have taken advantage of the flexibility rule to verify their remote employees are encouraged to develop a plan now to make sure that those employees’ documents are physically inspected on a timely basis and that their Form I-9s are updated as required.
Check out additional Form I-9 guidance in the Federal Updates section of the newsletter.
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Under this U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule, which was first announced on March 20, 2020, if your employees are working remotely as a result of COVID-19, you may initially inspect those employees’ identity and work authorization documents remotely (e.g., by video link, fax, or email) to verify or, if necessary, re-verify, their work eligibility, the rule also makes clear that, once those remote employees commence or resume non-remote work, you must physically inspect their original documents, in person, within three business days. At that time, you must also make a note in the Additional Information field of the employee’s Form I-9, reflecting the date you did this follow-up inspection and who conducted it.
This Form I-9 flexibility rule was initially set to expire on May 19, 2020, but, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, DHS extended the rule several times. Initially, the rule applied only to employers and workplaces that were operating entirely remotely, but the flexibilities were later extended to cover all employees working exclusively on a remote basis because of COVID-19. Under its most recent guidance, announced on May 26, 2021, DHS indicated that the flexibility rule would be extended through August 31, 2021.
Over the past months, many employers have used the Form I-9 flexibility rule to onboard employees who were initially hired to work on a remote basis or to re-verify incumbent employees working remotely. However, as the pandemic has subsided, many of those employees are now starting or resuming work at their employers’ regular offices and workplaces.
Employers should remember that, when these remote employees begin working non-remotely, the employer needs to follow up – within three days – to conduct the in-person document inspection. But what if an employee does not fully return to the regular workplace all at once, but instead “phases in” to a more regular routine? DHS has indicated that remote employees covered by the rule are temporarily exempt from the normal Form I-9 in-person inspection requirements “until they undertake non-remote work on a regular, consistent, or predictable basis, or the extension of the flexibilities related to such requirements is terminated, whichever is earlier.” This does suggest that an employer’s obligation to do the physical inspection does not commence simply because the employee works non-remotely a single time or on isolated occasions.
Employers can do the in-person document inspections before they are legally required. The DHS has stated that the flexibilities “do not preclude employers from commencing, in their discretion, the in-person verification of identity and work authorization documentation” for employees initially verified remotely under the rule. In addition, unless the flexibility rule is extended again, it will expire on August 31, 2021. Employers will then have three days after that to complete the physical document inspections for every employee who was initially verified remotely, regardless of whether that employee is still working exclusively on a remote basis.
For this reason, employers who have taken advantage of the flexibility rule to verify their remote employees are encouraged to develop a plan now to make sure that those employees’ documents are physically inspected on a timely basis and that their Form I-9s are updated as required.
Check out additional Form I-9 guidance in the Federal Updates section of the newsletter.
Colorado Supreme Court Clarifies Vacation Pay Obligations
As noted in a previous FrankCrum news alert, the Colorado Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision that an employer must pay an employee’s earned but unused vacation pay upon separation of employment. This decision brought clarity to how vacation policies are addressed under the Colorado Wage Claim Act. Colorado employers do not have to provide vacation pay but if they choose to do so it cannot be forfeited once earned and must be paid out when the employee leaves the company.
Some employers may consider holding a summer office party or event to thank employees for their hard work and to show appreciation. It may be a barbeque, baseball game, cocktail party or other outing. In order to help the party or event run smoothly and to minimize employer liability, continue to follow all applicable COVID protocols, but an employer needs to consider the following as well in planning:
