One of her studies showed that performance did not differ significantly whether the amount to be earned as an incentive was three percent or 100% of total pay. As her work seems to indicate, any incentive plan, regardless of its structure, is better than none at all. Three suggestions: consider non-cash incentives to offer on top of competitive compensation; customized individual incentives are more effective than group incentives; and make sure that every employee's day-to-day manager or supervisor is positive. Remember, employees leave supervisors more often than they leave companies. American vs. European

American workers, on average, have less job security than European workers. When faced

with a need to reduce their workforce, U.S. companies typically resort to layoffs much more than do their European counterparts. European companies rely more on alternatives to layoff, including work sharing and attrition as employee retention programs.

A recent study in the UK revealed similar results to the Dickinson research. That is that it cast doubt, though did not disprove arguments,...

In other words, it's those non-cash incentives and programs, and meeting that hierarchy of needs that actually increase employee satisfaction and retention.
Bibliography

Cyprus, S. (n.d.). What are the Best Employee Retention Practices? Retrieved May 4, 2009, from Wisegeek.com: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-best-employee-retention-practices.htm

Dickinson, A. (2001). Individual Monetary Incentives: A Review of Different Types of Arrangements Between Performance and Pay. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, Vol. 21, No. 3.

Employee Retention. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2009, from Spectracomm.com: http://spectracomm.com/Article06.htm

Heathfield, S. (n.d.). The Bottom Line for Employee Retention. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from About.com: http://humanresources.about.com/od/retention/a/manager_role.htm

McKeown, J.L. (2002). Retaining Top Employees. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=rUtbpw2vn4UC&printsec=frontcover