“The IFS’ prediction that employees will earn less in real terms in 2021 than 2008 is not only worrying for workers – it’s very bad news for UK businesses. For companies to be productive and profitable, they need engaged employees and both salary and bonuses are a vital part of that. Our recent research found that, for over a quarter of UK employees, a financial bonus is their main motivator, yet a large portion of employers do not run any kind of monetary incentivisation programme.
“Even in a tough economic landscape, businesses can enhance their productivity by taking an intelligent approach to rewarding their staff. We must move away from the old-fashioned salary economy to the performance economy: rather than paying people based on their position and tenure, employees must be rewarded for their output. Businesses must assess their workforce and identify what they need to do to be successful, decide on the corporate metrics to monitor and apply technology that can automate and monetize the execution against those goals. It’s only by truly engaging the UK workforce that we can address the country’s productivity gap and ultimately improve our economic outlook for the future.”