What’s worth doing is worth doing for money. -Gordon Gekko (Wall Street)

So while we know that money is “the motivator” and the monetary incentive makes the world go round, is it possible to motivate and incentivise employees without spending cash?

Can you prove Gordon Gekko wrong and still survive?

Hmmm…a challenging task but worth a try, especially for or a startup, which is perennially short of cash.

Below, are a few practical (and no expense) answers:

Say Thank You

A personal note of thanks from a senior person, especially the founder/CEO of a startup can work wonders. With a small team, the founder can actually send a handwritten or a signed note to the employee, and chances are that they would frame it up and proudly display it on their desk, and stick to that desk for a long time. Good luck beating that with any monetary incentive.  

Interesting read: Best ways for a startup to find new employees.

Boss’ Day In

Make your high potential manager spend a day with you – sit with you while you deal with the clients, partners, and all others. Make him realize the significance of the company’s vision and what you have to go through. In one day you would have earned an evangelist without spending anything (pay for his lunch, though!).   

Teach Them

Ask the “experts” to groom your high potential people in their areas of expertise. A training session for the best sales people with your marketing VP won’t cost much, but can be worth millions. 

Pot Luck

They get their own food and you are the guest of honour. As cheap as it gets, employees love it, though. Ask the best team to have a pot luck and you can order ice creams for all in the end (be frugal, don’t be cheap).

Wall of Honour

The employee of the week/month, best salesman, best accountant and best ops guy would love to see themselves get a spot on the “wall of honour”. They would happily provide their own pics, you just have to give some chart paper and glue (no that doesn’t count as an expense!).   

Go Social

The Facebook page costs nothing. Putting your employee’s wedding photographs or the proud new mommy’s photo with her newborn would add a human touch to the company’s Facebook wall and buy you more loyalty points than a costly wedding or baby shower gift.

Interesting read: Social media powerful and free marketing tool for startups

Have Fun

Fun events like a musical chair or tug of war cost nothing, but can be really great in easing the stress and making the people drop their “business masks”.

Special Team

It costs nothing, makes them work even more, but they love it, feel motivated and even boast about it. Choose your best people to become a part of the “special teams” for high impact projects. They would love it, and you would love the results. And the budget? Well, it is effectively zero.

A company, especially a startup needs an army of motivated and faithful employees. While the company might not have enough cash to pay larger salaries to their employees, they can more than makeup for it by using innovative ideas.

Read more: Social Media Helps in Funding Startups. Know about it now..

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