Perks, incentives and pensions — the triple whammy for happy internal customers

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Business moguls like Richard Branson believe that when staff feel valued and satisfied, they’re more likely to offer excellent customer care — which in turn increases profits and pleases shareholders.

In a recent interview with Inc. he reiterated his advice that you should ‘put staff first, your customer second and shareholders third’.

With the cost of living creeping ever higher, offering competitive wages is one way of boosting employee recruitment and retention.

But perks, incentives and pensions are also attractive — offering a sense of security in an often precarious economic environment.

Here’s how this triple whammy can motivate internal customers.

Perks

Giving hardworking employees a proverbial pat on the head with a ‘star employee’ certificate and feature article in the staff magazine might motivate some staff members.

But others prefer to be praised through practical perks that let them save cash on food, fashion and family fun.

The cost of catching the latest movie at the cinema, taking kids to a theme park or enjoying a well-deserved break at a top hotel is rising — so reward and recognition platforms like Perkbox help firms offer superb discounts to outstanding staff.

Corporate membership of this type of scheme might be more economical than you expect and the morale boost it facilitates is priceless.

Incentives

Rewarding staff when your company performs particularly well is an excellent way of making them feel they’re totally integral to its success.

Offering stocks is one option — used automobile firm Carvana recently announced plans to give $35 million of stock to employees, so they’ll be invested in its sustained success in more ways than one.

But employee integration can also be built into your business model — employee ownership companies like The John Lewis Partnership are structured democratically so that every employee can contribute to strategy, profits are reinvested for the future and an annual bonus benefits all.

And when you profit from the insight or initiative of a talented employee, it might be appropriate to pay them a percentage — this can be agreed contractually for each employee or as a general rule laid down in corporate policy.

Cash incentives are less common in the public sector, but they are implemented by some organisations.

Pensions

Helping your valued employees plan for retirement proves that you’re concerned with their long-term security and want them to stick around with you for as long as possible.

And a pension might be the best way to futureproof finances as contributions are deducted automatically, so hard-earned cash can’t be frittered away.

In the UK, employers must make mandatory payments into staff auto-enrolment schemes and contribution levels have gradually increased over the years.

But providing a staff pension scheme that offers more than the bare minimum required legally is an excellent way to reward staff — especially those who might never get round to setting up one under their own steam and then struggle when they’re no longer drawing a salary.

Chartered independent advisory firms like Chancellor Financial Management can help businesses of any size provide bespoke pensions and benefits packages that satisfy staff requirements and boost retention.

Taking a more holistic view of employee remuneration enables you to take a more creative approach to rewarding them appropriately.

Cold, hard cash will pay the bills, but it might not be enough to stop them jumping ship to join the competition — that’s why perks, incentives and pensions are the triple whammy for staff satisfaction.

How do you reward your staff? Share your tips in the comments section.

Endri Hasanaj
Financial Economy Blog
Endri is interested in digital marketing, particularly in CRM via brand acquisition. Being a trilingual helps him doing researches around Multicultural Marketing.

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