How to give your staff a 43% pay bonus... for free!

I'm often asked how we can attract and retain the best talent, pay people so well and build a successful buisness in one of the hardest, most commoditised markets in the world- print- so as last week we announced the latest bonus scheme of 43.7% for the team, ( vid. here https://www.webmartuk.com/joinus/webmart-sexi-scheme/) i thought I'd share the 'secret' through LinkedIn. It's called Marxist-capitalism.

1. First- you have to work out why you are in business and what does this gives you as a target on 3 levels- intellectually, emotionally and financially ( 'ief'). This vision attracts the right people who will create the value.

2. Secondly-you have to be self-funded or get funds from people who leave you to run your business. If you don't, they will have all the surplus profits*

3. Thirdly, work out how much re-investment cash you need to achieve your targets ( see 1.). This sets your 'retained profit' level. Anything above this is 'surplus profit', which needs to be distributed to those who have created it ( hence 2. is a prerequisite) in line with Marxist thinking. No revolution needed.

4. Fourthly, work out how much is "enough" for the owners of the business. There may be one, or many- just get an amount or % agreed and applied consistently from year-to-year. This is the shareholders share of the surplus profit.

5. Give out the rest to the value creators- your staff. Everyone in a business contributes, so everyone should get a share. Not all are equal value creators though but as the recruitment market sets this, not you, it's dead easy. Divide the remaining surplus profits by the base salary of the staff and voila, you have a % that all get ( we have a 2 year earn-in before you're on the scheme ). Simple.

Our figures for 2014-15:

Fixed retained profit level ￡400,000 . Corporation tax paid

Fixed shareholder surplus profit level ￡300,000 taken through payroll.

Balance of surplus profit to staff; equates to 43.7% of base salary. Straightforward & taken through payroll.

Benefits:

It overcomes all the challenges of a normal capitalist business whilst keeping the dynamism/ discipline of a normal capitalist business. I'll do a brain dump of things that are easier to achieve running a business this way ( it's not utopia, but it is a lot better)

strategic alignment/recruitment of talent/motivation of staff/lean-thinking/cash management/risk management/investment planning/stress/environmental awareness/community and charitable giving/ cpd/ acceptance of change/ transparency/ sharing of best pracise/ engagement of clients and suppliers/ vibe/ creative environment/ flexible working/ better mental health/ friendship/ intellectual, emotional & financial success is meaningful/ much greater tax yield to pay for our society etc etc

It's kind of better all round... and after 19 years of steady but consistent growth in a massively challenging marketplace, it's now proven. Feel free to copy the scheme we have https://goo.gl/Fs60nR and if you want any help, I'm happy to take a skype to support you. [email protected] will arrange.

Hope it was helpful :-)

Bilty