A Reason to Stay
Incentives provide the "golden handcuffs" that keep employees from getting away.
Even if your company isn't quite Fortune 500 status, you can
find creative ways to offer the so-called "golden
handcuffs" that secure valued workers.
"[It's] basically an arrangement between a company and
an employee regarding some type of incentive," says Ray
Silverstein, president of the PRO-President's Resource Organization, a
Chicago firm that creates and facilitates advisory boards for
business owners, CEOs and company presidents. "[The incentive]
hits the employee's hot button. It makes them want to stay and
punishes them if they leave."
Lending an employee money for his or her child's education
is one way to buy loyalty. If the employee stays for an allotted
length of time, the loan is forgiven. If they leave, the loan is
due and payable on demand. Other popular incentives: deferred
compensation and phantom stock. (See August 1999's
"Tax
Talk.")
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Golden handcuffs work only for employees who'll make a
difference in the growth of your company, so zero in on incentives
that will keep those people tied to your company's future.
Ellen Paris is a Washington, DC, writer and former Forbes
magazine staff writer.