Days off vs money?

If your staff is like mine (and if you are like me) days off with pay or more money is what most employees say would motivate them to do extras in their job.

So why not give them what they want? Now if your property is like mine, it is set in stone when it comes to the budget. So the money part might be out of the question, BUT what if "money" doesn't mean hourly wage?

What if you gave them a gift card when you see them go above and beyond their job? Or buy their lunch every now and again. This saves them money. If your maintenance man drinks soda all the time, why not buy him a six pack, again, this saves him money. If your assistant has children, why not give her a gift card to a restaurant or give her McD's/Burger King gift cards for those evenings when she has to run little Jimmy to football practice the same that she has to get little Suzie to dance class.

As for the time off with pay - The same goes as with the money, if you see them go above and beyond, then give them half a day off on Friday. If your staff has worked hard to make your property the best it can be, give them "get out work early" cards. Each card can be worth a 1/2 hour or one hour and they can save them up and turn them in when they want a day off (with prior approval from you and you can set the limit on how many hours they can take at a time).

You can purchase Monopoly money and use it: a $5.00 play bill can equal 5 minutes of early leave or you can buy those business cards that you can do yourself on the computer and create a "get out of work early" card. That way you can put the amount of time you want to give them right on the card. Neither of these ideas cost much and both are reusable items.

Motivation is the key and you can motivate your staff with the things they want, without going overboard and let them know this is something you want to do for them as long as it doesn't get taken advantage of.