4 ms·

I would love to hear a reply to this. One of the most successful businesses in my neighborhood is a cooperatively owned bagel shop. They've got a bunch of locat

• m104 18y ago
  It's not really a new business model or anything, but the simple idea (which some companies successfully implement) that some portion, say 30%, of the organization's net profit of each pay period is divided up by the number of workers (non-management, non-executive employees) and dispersed to those workers at the next pay period. Bonuses, retirement plans, health benefits, and all other incentives are still set at management's discretion, but are funded with the other 70% of the profit. It's really that simple. Realize too, that simple profit sharing coexists with the normal grading of wages based on whatever position/seniority algorithm the organization uses. So you're guaranteed, as a developer or designer or whatever, to make your normal wage and be considered for increases. But every pay period would have that profit sharing bonus that shows you how the business is doing and exactly how much your organization values your contribution. Stock-based incentives are supposed to fulfill this role, but they're often given out after some major event and then only to the most visible members of the contribution. Arbitrarily, in other words. Holiday bonuses are nice, too, but they are supposed to be confidential in most organizations (creating uncomfortable speculation and comparisons) and can lead to unmet expectations.