Dear OD Chatter,

I am the founder of a good size organization and my question is this: how do I keep my key people happy but without having to pay a lot more money?  I can’t afford to pay year over year salary increases and my HR team has not given me any ideas that don’t cost a ton of dollars in the long run.  What ideas do you have?

Signed, Curious in Oaks, PA

Dear Curious,

There are tons of potentials for non-monetary compensation.  The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website has a good number of resources from which you can pull ideas.

Another source would be your own employees: consider creating a survey, ask what benefits are important to them, and act upon what bubbles to the surface.  In this case, it helps to list out as many as you can think of and allow open sections for employees to write their ideas out.

Policies with companies like Aflac are one of many health and wellness benefits where employees cover the cost and can select the options that are a fit for their needs.

Soft benefits such as free meals, scheduling gourmet vending trucks, discounts to local venues, department ½ day trips, and having famous people show up on site are just a few ideas.  These ideas also increase your employee engagement numbers. Many organizations are spending a day each year with their employees engaged in volunteering opportunities proving them with tax benefits.  You can find more details by reaching out to your local charities that have a common connection with your corporate mission and or value statement.

You can look at your current benefits and find items there: adjusting the PTO calculation from requiring 5 years of employment to earn extra PTO to only needing 3 or 4 years of employment.  All of these small changes increase your employer brand and make you a more preferred employer.

I am wondering why your HR department is not forthcoming with ideas that match your culture, corporate size and number of locations.  When was the last time you invested in the professional development of your HR team member’s skill level?  I encourage you to explore this deeper to find out if you have a skill gap in your HR department.  The relationship between the CEO and the leader of your HR department is critical in developing an agile and sustainable business foundation.

Thank you for sending us your workplace questions!

OD Chatter

_______

OD Chatter (www.odchatter.com) is written by Debra Dee Bradford, CHRO of ODL Business Partners, Inc. (www.odlbp.com) an HR consulting firm specializing in organizational development and leadership training. To reach Debra, submit questions, or make comments please email dbradford@odlbp.com.