Christmas Bonuses? 320
An anonymous reader asks: "I run a small startup company who was able to turn a buck during this past year. To say 'Thank you' to the employees who put in so much time and effort to get us financially stable I would like to give them a Christmas bonus. However, I've never received one before, so what is appropriate? I have 5 employees and I want to give them all the same bonus, but while I can afford about $1500 a person, is that too much? Would gifts be more appropriate then money? What are some bonuses the Slashdot crowd has received in the past?"
My company (Score:1, Informative)
happy, happy, joy, joy (Score:1, Informative)
Good for you! (Score:3, Informative)
I've been at the same job for 3 1/2 years and three years ago I received about $400 I believe, and then $0 and $0, even though I got 'promoted' and we're making more money. It's a small company and I feel like shit because I also probably haven't received a raise in that long as well. Anyways,
$1500 sounds awsome!
Sales sharing (Score:3, Informative)
The perfect gift! (Score:3, Informative)
If that's not an option, then hand out bulk Christmas cards containing a $25 certificate for a small local restaurant. If they haven't ever heard of "Ma's Pasta Shop" so much the better, they'll welcome the push to get out and experience new things! They may even go back, having discovered a new favorite restaurant; the gift that keeps on giving!
Seriously though; employees really do appreciate a generous gift, and will remember it for the rest of the year. I'd suggest giving part of the gift in cash, maybe $750 to $1000. Also have some seasonal gourmet foods sent to their home address; Honeybaked Ham [honeybaked.com] gift packs are always fantastically delicious, and Pittman & Davis [pittmandavis.com] oranges and red grapefruit are the largest and sweetest you'll ever see. Remember, it's not all about the employee's reward and morale boost. This is an opportunity to show his family that you care about both him and his family, and the workplace isn't just where Daddy stays late and comes home tired and grumpy.
Also remember to give the cash bonus well in advance of the actual holiday. Not only do you catch the potential celebrators of other religious holidays, but you give them a welcome shot of cash for the gift-shopping season, which is often very stressful for tight budgets.
Re:in Holland (Score:3, Informative)
Hmm - it might be the same as things are in Belgium though. Here we get paid a 13 month year, and the 13th month is at the end of November. It's not a bonus, it's part of our salary...
(Actually it's about 13.9 months a year, because we get a similar "holiday pay" in the summer - effectively we get paid double for holiday time, with half of the double pay being paid as if you're working during your holiday, and half in a lump sum in May or June...)
Bonuses are seperate to that...and at least for me are not paid around Christmas as we already have the boost from the 13th month. Do a web search for more info.
-- Pete.
Christmas Bonuses (Score:2, Informative)
I've received and also allocated bonuses that were:
1) a percentage of my salary
2) a percentage of a pool allocated to my department
3) an extra paycheck
for percentages, a 5-10% of the monthly salary is was not unusual.
Money is much more useful then other gifts.
Thank you for being kind to your employees.
heh. I thought $1500 was kind of skimpy. (Score:2, Informative)
Other thoughts on distribution:
Make it quality based- Good workers get more, bad workers get less.
Give more to the rank and file than to the managers, these things always get around somehow, and alot of faith is lost in the company when a worker feels that a manager, on top of already stealing their recognition for work done, is also getting a bigger share of the profits because of it.
Good xmas bonuses, bad xmas bonuses. (Score:2, Informative)
Other ideas (Score:3, Informative)
by Bob Nelson, ISBN 1-56305-339-X is a good resource that might help you determine what to give.
Amazon [amazon.com] link
Regards, Anomaly
Re:Give whatever you feel they deserve. (Score:3, Informative)
If it was considered OK to get the husband an iron so that he could iron his own pants/shirts, then yes, it would be a double standard.
Of course if there was someone who made a hobby out of vacuuming, a nice sporty vacuum cleaner would be an appropriate gift.