Employees are the backbone of every small business and the face of your brand. Finding the best compensation to reflect the value they provide can be a challenge. A salary increase offers greater long-term security, while a handsome bonus offers more immediate benefits. Striking the right balance between the two can help you achieve staffing goals and maintain a healthy bottom line.

Continue reading to learn more about the benefits of pay raises and bonuses, and why more and more Australian businesses are turning to Bartercard to supplement their workers’ compensation and help employees plan a holiday.

The Case for a Raise

Some companies give out raises across the board each year, set as a percentage based on each individual employee’s salary. With an annual raise, employees can more easily plan and budget for their monthly expenses. Although there are many ways to motivate and retain your best employees, raises help boost employee morale and ensure that dedicated employees are rewarded.

People leave their jobs for all kinds of reasons, and pay is a big one. Besides helping your employees meet their living expenses, salary is also tied to other measures of job satisfaction. When they receive a raise, employees continue to see that extra cash, paycheque after paycheque. They’re more likely to feel that they are being recognised for good performance and that their contributions are important and valued by the business.

Bonuses Are Often Preferable for Employers

Bonuses can be more financially feasible for business owners to manage, since they’re a variable cost, tied to sales or production volumes, and do not require a long-term financial commitment.

While pay raises typically reward longevity, bonuses are often based on performance. From a business perspective, a bonus also gives you more freedom to navigate the ups and downs of economic activity, which means that your bonuses can be lowered or even scrapped completely during difficult times.

Bonuses can be structured to recognise individual merit, rewarding top-producing employees for their efforts. Sales-based commission bonuses could be paid to employees who generate the highest volume of new business, and production-based bonuses could be structured for those who answer the most customer phone calls. Alternately, bonuses can be given across your entire team, based on the company’s net profits, incentivising everyone to buy into the success of the business.

How Bartercard Can Help You Get Creative with Your Bonus

Most employees love perks! Since your people are at the heart of your business, rewarding them properly is critical to success and holding on to your best performers. Any compensation model should incentivise employees and provide ongoing communication to ensure they know their efforts are appreciated.

Bartercard Trade dollars can serve as an employee bonus for workers who truly deserve it, acting as an incentive scheme for them. Bartercard’s cashless currency is becoming a popular choice for employers to incentivise their employees, rewarding additional bonuses, and providing staff gifts, allowing them to conserve cash.

Businesses can also set up each employee with a staff card to be spent in the Bartercard marketplace, and you can pay a certain percentage of their salary in trade dollars. This is a great way to motivate your workers to keep your business successful, so get in touch with us today for more great tips to get creative with your bonus!