It’s that time of year again where you may be considering giving out a Christmas bonus. There’s a great chance your employees are anticipating it as well. But can your Christmas bonus actually have a negative impact on your culture? Simple answer is yes. But it can also have a positive impact on culture and performance if done correctly. I unfortunately learned lessons the hard way on what not to do — and also had great success with one that worked well.
Early in my business, when I only had a few employees, I wanted to be generous and gave everyone a very nice bonus. The next year rolled around and we tripled in size. The team was expecting the same type of bonus, but we didn’t have a great year. And to pay out that big of a bonus to three times as many people was … well, it was a lesson learned the hard way. I went ahead and did it, but knew I needed a better way.