A friend of mine, who builds houses, used to pay his framing crew by the hour. He knew how long the jobs were taking the crew, the square footage of the job, and knew their hourly wage. Jobs were stacking up because they were slow. He decided to switch to paying them by the job. He’d pay them what he estimated they’d earn doing it by the hour and told them there are a backlog of jobs to be done. Lo and behold, their hourly wage sky-rocketed because they finished their jobs faster and did more jobs over a year’s time. He also started subbing out his framing crew to other contractors to keep them busy since they had more time. I don’t know the technical details of how he now does payroll, but as far as I know, they are still employees and not contractors. I recognize that low productivity isn’t necessarily your problem, maybe it’s helpful nonetheless.
Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 29, 2024, at 8:08 AM, Chris Fabien <ch...@lakenetmi.com> wrote: > > We have never had success with production based bonuses, it always was > hurt feelings when expectations were not met or bending the criteria > to make sure the productions bonus was awarded sometimes, lot of > finger pointing and resentment when it wasn't met. > For a while we did annual christmas bonus based on somewhat on > seniority. Also hurt feelings and whining when the most senior > employee blabbed what his bonus was. > Last year we did a fixed bonus for everyone. It might have > over-rewarded some of the new employees a bit but everyone was happy > at least. > Of course do annual or semi-annual performance based increases and > keep wages very competitive. > >> On Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 9:45 AM <dmmoff...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> An employee’s perspective: >> >> I’d continue with regular increases. I have been at two places where the >> only time I’d get a raise was when I had an offer from someone else. This >> tends to happen at tiny businesses with no HR department. >> More than anything else I want a good work environment: People I like to >> work with, management who know what they’re doing, a product I can be proud >> of working on, etc. >> Sticking around for stock is a danger for an employee because while the >> documents say how many shares you’ll have, you won’t have any way to know >> whether they’re worth a million dollars or 94 cents. I’d be angry and >> frustrated if I stuck it out and let other opportunities pass by and didn’t >> get a big payout. >> An offer of stock from an employer I wasn’t happy with actually pushed me to >> resign. I work because I should, and I don’t usually stop to think about >> why I’m doing it. The offer made me do some reflection on them, myself, and >> whether I want to be committed to that group of people long term. That >> answer was definitely “no”, and that prompted me to look for other options >> sooner rather than later. >> Production based bonuses are good in theory, but I have not yet had those >> based on a metric that I had any impact on. I’ve been just along for the >> ride on the bonus programs. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> On Behalf Of Ken Hohhof >> Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2024 2:12 PM >> To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <af@af.afmug.com> >> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] compensation for employees >> >> >> >> I worked for big companies in the 80’s and remember profit sharing and >> Christmas bonuses. Then we had a period of startups with stock options as a >> huge part of compensation – the idea was you worked 80 hour weeks for modest >> pay but if the company hit it big your options could be worth a lot. I >> suspect some people hit the jackpot and a lot more got the shaft. >> >> >> >> My sense is that employees today are mostly focused on the short term. They >> have bills to pay, they want to know what income they can count on, they >> probably don’t want to roll the dice on profit sharing or a bonus or stock >> options. Also, Millennials and Gen XYZ I talk to seem to view employment as >> transactional, and they don’t necessarily identify with the company or the >> owners (thanks to companies like Amazon and owners like Bezos). >> >> >> >> So while I don’t have any hard facts, my guess is you’re doing the right >> thing already. If you’re inclined to tie compensation to company >> performance, I wouldn’t make it a large percentage, and I wouldn’t try to >> use it as an incentive for people to work insane hours or achieve impossible >> goals (like Elon Musk’s “extremely hardcore”). And I’d make it fairly short >> term, like monthly or something, so employees aren’t making their families >> scrimp in hopes of a windfall at the end of the quarter or year. >> >> >> >> If you do experience hard times, reduced hours might be a temporary solution >> at least for hourly employees. Realizing that with low unemployment, some >> of them might move elsewhere. >> >> >> >> The good news is that any part of your business tied to fiber projects is >> likely to have at least 5 good years coming. >> >> >> >> From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> On Behalf Of Chuck McCown via AF >> Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2024 12:16 PM >> To: af@af.afmug.com >> Cc: ch...@go-mtc.com >> Subject: [AFMUG] compensation for employees >> >> >> >> My latest pivot a couple of years ago to microtrenching blades, adding grout >> machines, then microtrenching saw attachments and now to a specialized type >> of vacuum excavator has gone extremely well. Almost no software involved. >> Just a little in a motion control PCB in the grout machine to control the >> hydrostatic transmission. This is by far my most profitable season I have >> ever had in 50 years of running some kind of hustle. And those years of the >> stinger and other related antennas and hardware were not bad at all. I am a >> bit more confident that these new “durable products” have more legs than the >> antennas that were radio specific. >> >> >> >> But having been through wax and wane of business, economy and product cycles >> for many decades, I am always reticent to ratchet up pay. I do give >> bonuses. I will always live in fear of not meeting payroll. Only happened >> once about 30 years ago, but that is a bad deal. And actually nobody was >> unpaid but I had to layoff everyone. But I digress. >> >> >> >> What would y’all suggest as a way to reward employees when things are going >> well? I give COLA plus modest merit increases every 6 months. I could give >> substantial merit increases but that plays into my phobia of things getting >> tight again. Maybe that is totally unfounded. I know when things started >> going well for Henry Ford he doubled pay and things got even better for him. >> >> >> >> I would like to do bonuses based on my bottom line income (I think), but how >> to distribute that evenly? Should everyone get the same amount? And how to >> relate that the size of the bonus is tied directly to how well the company >> is doing? Or should I just give really nice raises this go around? Or >> both? I guess if things slow down we can always trim staff or let attrition >> do it for us. I think you all can understand the reluctance to give raises >> as it is a one way street. You really cannot cut pay. >> >> >> >> I want employees to prosper and do better personally. I wonder if my fears >> are justified. I know some of you have worked for large companies at >> certain points in your life, how did they accomplish this. I know some of >> you have really prospered with your WISP/ISP, curious how you approached the >> whole sharing the wealth thing. >> >> >> >> >> >> Chuck McCown >> McCown Technology Corporation >> 8401 N Commerce Dr >> Lake Point, Utah 84074 >> 801-250-9503 >> 435-830-4306 cell >> www.mccowntech.com >> www.microtrench-blades.com >> www.terabitnetworks.com >> >> -- >> AF mailing list >> AF@af.afmug.com >> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
