But if an employee leaves, they have nothing. If it s a longer project, do it with interim payouts. The incentive is tied to specific milestones, with quantitative goals. Most often, they cite the lack of any bottom-line impact. It doesn t cost much, but goes a long way.
People get so busy, they forget the natural human interaction.
Fit the praise to the position. What matters most to them is acknowledgement in front of their peers. The sales guy, on the other hand, loves his Salesman of the Month plaque - you ll see it hanging on the wall of every company he ever works for. Techies don t care about that stuff. They play the actuarial tables - they start out low, then increase as usage increases.