Getting the Most Out of Your Staff Using a Team Driven Compensation Program Contrary to a popular belief, most bonus programs do not motivate the team! Most lack the assurance that all members of the team will be equally committed. They very often promote the general feeling that the individual team member lacks the control necessary to achieve the goal. Usually, the bonus offered would not have any significant and lasting effect on the team member廣 life. At the first indication that the goal is not going to be achieved, most team members simply give up the fight. Another and very important reason that most bonus plans fail is that individuals in health care support services generally are not primarily motivated by money. In my 16 years of practice, this is by far the best system that I have ever used. Many of my colleagues feel the same. It is easy to use and the team monitors themselves. The program is designed to share the wealth. As the practice makes more money, so should the team. The program has the power to change someone廣 life. It can provide the opportunity to afford a new car or better home. It must be incremental, not a far off number that will take months to achieve. To be truly successful, the program must provide a realistic possibility of benefit next month and each successive month. The team will feel in control of their professional destiny and have the necessary tools to accomplish common goals. The doctor and the team work together and are mutually accountable for goal achievement. The doctor should have a goal to have the highest paid and most productive team in the community, based on office performance and collections. Trained and motivated individuals can turn a failing or stagnant practice around or most certainly take the growing practice to a much higher level of performance in a very short period of time. Here廣 how it works: 1. Determine the average collections for the past six months. For example: $29,385 2. Round off the average monthly production to the next highest thousand to establish a base line production, i.e.: $29,385 becomes $30,000 3. The employee廣 bonus is based on collecting above the baseline figure in $1000 increments. For example, if you collected $40,999 in January, February廣 pay is based at $40,000. 4. A salaried team member with a base pay of $2000 per month would receive a bonus of $65 per each $1000 collected above the base line. February廣 salary would be $65 times 10 or $650 higher, $2650! 5. An hourly team member would receive a 30 cents per hour increase for each $1000 increment. If their set wage were $12 per hour then they would get a $3 per hour increase. (.3x10) for February. That would mean $15 per hour! 6. Team members added after the benefit program has begun will have their base pay adjusted to the average collections for the past 6 months. This plan makes it very simple to administer and is motivating and rewarding to all involved!