Bonuses and reward based pay best for retaining employees

Bonuses and reward based pay best for retaining employees

Almost two thirds ( 64%) of managers feel that bonuses and reward based pay are the most effective employee benefit for retaining staff. That is according to an online survey of senior managers conducted by technical and engineering recruiter CBSbutler through it’s monthly Bulletpoint management newsletter.

Just over a quarter, (27%) believe pensions are the best benefit for holding on to employees. Interestingly, and perhaps worryingly, not one respondent valued lifestyle benefits such as gym memberships a worthy retention factor.

David Leyshon, Managing Director of CBSbutler says: “To retain employees, ensuring that they are motivated is absolutely essential. There are countless advantages to having enthusiastic staff - for example increased productivity, better performance, higher levels of job satisfaction and work quality, improved employee engagement, a positive working environment, low staff turnover - the list goes on! If you have a content and stimulated workforce, you will have a successful business.

In my experience, I believe the best way to motivate staff, particularly in the recruitment sector, is by using bonuses and reward based pay. However it is very important that managers do not put emphasis on rewarding only hard financial targets at the expense of other qualitative skills such as team work, managing change, problem solving and customer focus. To me these skill sets are absolutely fundamental to the operation and success of a business.

At CBSbutler, for example, we offer an uncapped commission scheme and a performance management system which rewards people not only on hard financial targets but also on key company behaviours. By linking financial rewards to behaviours, recruitment companies can lift performance across all business departments. In our case it has already led to considerable improvements in team work and customer service.”