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Many a well-meaning employer has come up with a generous benefit package in the belief that it will tie
employees to the company -- only to find that turnover remains as high as ever. That's what Ron Cardoos discovered at his first company, a chain
of gourmet food stores in the Boston area. Despite offering hourly workers medical and life insurance, paid vacations, and sick pay, the
business experienced turnover as high as 300% per year -- normal for a retail operation but a pain in the neck nonetheless.
So two years ago, when Cardoos launched his second company, Barnstable Gocery Inc., near Hyannis, Mass., he tried
something different . He dropped all benefits except a 20% employee discount, increased starting salaries, and began reviewing each
employee's performance every three months, handing out generous raises along with heaps of praise. He also gave employees the opportunity to
work a "reasonable" amount of overtime for extra cash. The result: turnover has dropped dramatically, and his employees have never seemed
happier.
"Instead of giving people what I think they should have," says Cardoos, "I'm giving them what they rally want - a
bigger paycheck at the end of the week. And giving them what they want is what count." |
