Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
– Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher
Traditionally, an employer views the relationship with their employees as a simple exchange – their time for our money. That isn’t enough anymore. Employees stay in jobs where they’re not just paid well, but are cared for and supported based on their unique needs and goals.
Here we’re talking financial goals – and these goals can be anything from paying off debt, to buying a home, to investing for future financial freedom.
Yet many employers forget to ask about these financial goals when looking to recruit or retain top talent. They forget about the person (and personal life) behind the resume.
We know employers care about securing top talent – often said to be the golden ticket that drives strong company culture, products, and success – yet standard compensation and incentives are proving ineffective at keeping top talent happy, loyal, and employed.
Hiring managers report that top challenges in today’s recruiting process include obstacles related to compensation and competition. So what’s one way an employer can stand out? What if they didn’t just provide their employees with a salary, but they also provided a lump sum cash bonus that could be accessed up front and then taught them how to manage and invest that money so it can have the best chance of supporting their future?
It’s time employers structured compensation to align with what employees care about. Generating long term wealth and increasing net worth is a common goal for many. Financial freedom, in essence, means stability, comfort, care for your family and loved ones for the future. In this post-COVID world, those things matter more than ever.
Imagine Terry, who is happily employed at Example 101 Industries where he earns $5,000 a month. Terry knows his salary will cover rent, utilities, his favorite streaming services, plus dinner out 3 times a week. That’s great in the short term, but Terry would really like to one day own his own home, start a family, and finally pay off his student loans. He’s not sure where to begin to achieve his goals, but he assumes the best plan would be to look for a job elsewhere with a higher base salary.
What if his job offered him a lump sum of cash today connected with a time commitment at his company? He could leverage that cash immediately on top of his salary … and then what if they gave him access to educational resources designed with his financial goals in mind? Terry would have no need to leave a position he loves.
As Keep co-founder Rob Frohwein recently wrote, employees tend to view large sums of cash differently than they view a standard salary increase. And a recent Keep survey just found that 86% of employees would take a lump sum of cash today tied to a time commitment at their company.
Education on how to manage that lump sum can empower employees and show real care for them and their long term well-being. Providing a Keep bonus that is earned over time as part of a compensation plan and teaching employees how to manage that money so it can benefit them as much as possible is almost like giving them more money. This innovative, personalized approach to compensation is one way to build long-lasting employee/employer relationships.
Productive relationships between employees and employers are a crucial component of successful businesses. Learn how a Keep bonus can enhance your employee relations today.
