Finding ways to motivate employees is a hard thing. When you look at how you pay employees, paying them by the hour, that’s the first source. But, is there a way to pay them through an incentive program or bonus structure that will work out to motivate them better and give you better bottom line results? I think that can be a really big possibility and especially in today’s market place where you’re competing against the hourly wage for the most part. Having an incentive or bonus gives you an advantage where those folks come to work for you instead of going across the street. So, let’s talk about how an incentive plan can work.
All right, for most potential employees, we’re going to revert to an hourly wage. We can go at this in small pieces, or, we can take a whole big chunk. You could say that I’m going to pay my employees solid commission. That’s one way to do it. But you’ll have to guarantee at least minimum wage (or a draw) for them to make sure that you’re complying with Department of Labor Standards, but you could pay them on a commission. A lot of jobs work that way. Now most of you I know are probably saying, “not in my area; not in my studio”. They won’t go for that. I get that. I also know that truly motivated employees who love that opportunity though. Be aware of those that say “no” to that and those that may bite.
Let’s take a middle ground. What have you paid an hourly wage or a minimal hourly wage and had an incentive program on top? Think about how that could work. You could do it based on individual employees’ performance. How many people do they get to come to a class and how many people do they sign up? How many add-ons do they have? How many parties do they have in their shift that they’ve managed? How many people have come through those parties? There’s a lot of criteria, a world of creativity, not only in Bisque, but also in pay for your employees.
You could also take it as a team approach if you’d like to promote more of having your staff work hard together on an incentive. Maybe there’s a weekly sales goal or a monthly sales goal, or maybe it’s a matter of you want to roll out and start opening on Mondays. Maybe you want to pay them an incentive of based on who comes in on Mondays to promote that idea. Think about that as a potential strategy. I would love to know what you’ve tried in your studio and what’s worked for you or what hasn’t. Let’s have a communication about that and let’s get a conversation started and have everyone pitch in and help each other with this. I think this is a really big way that you’re going to be able to compete with the increases in minimum wage going forward to help get those good staff members to join your team and to compensate them for who’s doing a great job versus who’s just getting by. Let me know how that goes and give us some comments.
I’m here to help.
Donna Bordeaux
CPA with PYOPAccounting.com.
Creativity and CPAs don’t generally go together. Most people think of CPAs as nerdy accountants who can’t talk with people. Well, it’s time to break that stereotype. Lively, friendly and knowledgeable can be a part of your relationship with your CPA as demonstrated by Donna Bordeaux and PYOP Accounting.com. Donna and her husband, Chad, who is also a CPA, have over 50 years of combined experience as entrepreneurial CPAs. They’ve owned businesses and helped business owners exceed their wildest dreams. They have been able to help PYOP studios earn 4 times more profit than the average PYOP and are passionate about helping industries that help families build great memories.
