Team well being bonus

Have you ever heard of an employee well-being bonus?

Me neither, I just made it up.

As a behavior scientist and burnout survivor I spend a lot of time trying to find solutions for burnout. 

I am not suggesting well being benefits, for example wellness programs, although these have their value and return on investment.

But they also have judgement and pressure – a good employee looks after herself.

What if we flipped the script. What if managers received bonuses if they created work conditions that supported employee well being and prevented burnout? 

Creating psychological safety, unbiased systems, autonomy and flexibility, and role modeling healthy work practices.

If team well being becomes a key performance indicator, with accountability at all levels of an institution then I believe concerted efforts will be made to improve well being. 

I believe employee well being could be a metric by which we evaluate companies we want to work for.

This could help hold organizations accountable. But yuk, there is that word that tends to suggest blame.

I can see this process could itself add pressure to an already burned out organization and might be seen as a penalty-based system rather than an incentive system.

But what if we had incentives?

What if we had well-being bonuses? What if managers could earn a bonus for their team’s well-being? Obviously, assessed independently since you don’t want a manager forcing employees to put on their happy face….

But what if this motivated managers to be innovative in their solutions to team well being, rather than being stymied that they don’t know how to help. 

Don’t you think they would experiment, they would get input, they would find solutions that actually worked?  The bonus would reward the effort and the success. This could include employee wellness programs but managers would soon realize that more is needed. That the culture and work practices have to change too.

And what if the well-being bonus was also supported by a retention bonus for employees who stayed? Sure there are lots of reasons why people leave, but that’s why it is a bonus, an extra for managers who inspire loyalty through wellness. Would this be a stronger incentive for long term, sustainable employee well being?

We give bonuses for meeting team sales targets. And we promote retention with personal payouts. 

Why not team well being? Well being effects the bottom line too.

What motivations and innovations for well being are you using in your organization?