Speaking for Clark Griswold - year end bonuses should be cash. Employees always appreciate the extra cash for family presents and such.

Gear on the other hand is a nice incentive for learning a new skill.

cash is king...

and employees should always be able to buy gear at cost.

Been that way with every company I have worked for. (equipment at cost). One employer always used to pass around the B stock and demo sale lists when they came from our various suppliers too.
Also, a lot of manufacturers have employee personal use purchase programs. Problem is, I cannot afford most of the equipment we sell, even at cost. I mean I can in theory but dropping a couple of grand on AV gear just doesn't seem like a wise use of my money. I rely on trade ins, cast offs and broken stuff that I can repair to outfit my home.

One smart employer gave me a URC remote after I expressed an interest in learning how to program. I got a remote, he got a programmer.

Christmas gifts IMO should be cash money and should be given a week or two before Christmas. We used to get ours a few days before Christmas and it was normally a mad scramble for me to use that money to buy gifts for my family.

One Christmas season, I was extraordinarily late one morning (i am always 5 minutes late....this time was more like 30). I told the boss my alarm did not wake me. At the end of the day, he pulled me aside and handed me a Tivoli clock/radio. The nice one. He said Merry Christmas. He also explained that this gift was coincidental and not related to my being late and the reason therefore. :)  

1) Gear at cost.
2) Free security system and low monitoring (must maintain monitoring for the free system).
3) Dibs on spare/excess equipment.
4) Bonuses are always $ (actually a check, but money).

And giving them a bonus will actually increase your expenses and reduce your overall tax liability.

Take care of your crew. They make or break the company!

Gear at cost is a no brainier. Getting the admin tools to make her life easier/ better (iPad/ tablet) and the installer some cool gear.

Raises happen at the one year mark. Treat your employees well and pay them well. They are your business.


I always bonus my guys when they do crazy things like work 20 days straight at 19 hours per day. Usually dinners, hotel and spending cash and Disneyland, concert or sports tickets. That kind of commitment deserves to be rewarded in a big way.

Even if they have a week of long hours and a couple of late nights I do something like high end dinner gift cards and tell them to spend some quality time with their family and thank them letting them know I understand it was hard and I know that family is important.
My guys know I have both them and their families best interest in mind and they in return have mine.



In your case, I would want to feed their interests and get them to involve themselves deeper without them knowing your intentions. For the two guys you describe I would get them a versatile AV Receiver and a Universal remote with software and I would tape an envelope of cash to it. A good Xmas bonus for a 15 per hour guy that has given you his best is 1k. The receiver and remote are on top of that.


That's how it should be. Business is business but when it comes to used gear I like to make that a perk for my guys. Sometimes its great stuff and as much as I want it I remain selfless.
The benefit of this is you end up with guys that get cool shit and want to know everything about everything. You will notice the gain in knowledge and raise in level of interest right away.

Hope this helps

Are you hiring?!?

You did see this right?


:)

White van. That is a great break down. Thanks.

So one is an installer the other is an admin. Both work hard and try to improve often. I will sit down with my accountant to see what makes sense money wise for a raise. I am sure we can afford it somehow.

I am splitting both of their training for the rest of the year. One programming intensive and the other is focused on money and marketing.

That last line is the most honest truth I've heard in a long time!

We currently give at least $1000 to our techs/journeyman. But we have given one or two of our employees an option if they wanted gear instead because it would work in our favor and they get some toys. But I do agree that money is the most appropriate.

I'm really wanting to implement a profit sharing plan for a lot of reasons. The biggest is I want to retain all of our great guys. As indicated, it's really important to keep guys happy as they are the life blood of the company and if they aren't happy, the work and attitudes will suffer. Most of our guys are capable of starting their own company so we need to do everything we can to keep them. The secondary reason is we like having a family atmosphere. Jobs will always suck!!! But coming to work shouldn't....

The downside of profit sharing is that guys will expect the same amount every year and if you don't produce the same profits as the prior year, you better explain why. #ClarkWGriswold

Cash , when I was 25 I wanted cash and I a half day.Giving them gear to learns is like homework. Give them cash and if they want gear they will give you the cash back.

I was thinking of a day off with the gear (paid) but ask them for a simple programmed remote or watch them setup a Sonos system with services and music library.

Basic stuff.

I am!
Keep in mind that a slow week is 55 hours and we are booked through June so I don't see much in the way of relaxing any time soon.