By Karen Axelton
What does it take to motivate your employees—especially when you can’t afford to use financial means to do so?
The good news is that a recent survey from McKinsey & Co. shows money isn’t the biggest motivator. The survey looked at three non-cash motivators (praise from supervisors, attention from the company’s leaders, and the chance to lead a project) and found they were just as effective (in many cases, more so) than the top-rated financial incentives.
Here are the percentages of respondents that stated each type of motivation was “very” or “extremely” effective:
Financial:
- Performance-based cash bonuses – 60 percent
- Increase in base salary – 52 percent
- Stock or stock options – 35 percent
Non-financial:
- Praise by immediate manager – 67 percent
- Attention from leaders – 63 percent
- Opportunity to lead projects – 62 percent
As you can see, even the lowest-ranked non-financial incentive ranked higher than the highest-ranked cash incentive. What’s more, this survey was conducted among larger companies. As a small business, it’s even easier for your company to offer praise, attention and the chance to take the lead—the motivators that employees value most.