Marsh, a risk management and insurance services firm since 1871 knows about motivation. In the past few years Marsh has changed drastically due to the marketplace as many businesses have. The Tampa office is a small office that has done all right for itself the past couple of years. This year, 2003, Marsh-Tampa has not done so well, so the head of the office and management came together to think of new strategies to improve the performance and morale of all employees. They implemented strategies to work together as a combination. The strategies are incentive bonuses for the regular employees, incentive dollars, and the balanced scorecard.
The incentive bonuses are earned using the referral program. If an employee other than management or sales gives a lead and Marsh closes a deal with them, the employee will receive 3% of the total sold for the entire year. For example, if Jon was to refer ABC Co. and they bought $300,000 worth of insurance, Jon would receive a $9000 check at the end of the year. Management changed the entire strategy when this plan was implemented. It enspires the employees so they want to look for new business. They also believe that if this works then their could be much more in the future. Some employees resist and will not try to find new business even if it is sitting in their lap. They prefer to come to work at 8:30am and leave at 4:30pm, and do not put extra effort to find new business. Management knows not everyone can do it, but they give him or her every opportunity if they are willing to give the extra effort. Some people have young children and must pick them up at after school care before a certain time. Internal incentive and rewards programs are what keep a happy medium within the organization.
Incentive dollars are given out for outstanding effort and for helping out when needed the most. All of the employees received five ten-dollar bills (Marsh money) that they can give to whoever they want.