So far we’ve viewed everything through the lenses of an employer. Whom should we hire and with what skills? How do we motivate them?

Applicants want to know what the job is going to be like. How hard will I have to work? How much will I get paid? Some questions get answered in the interview. Others aren’t answered until the job starts. And this is where the problems can begin.

I’ve spent considerable time thinking about and researching the employment contract from the employee’s perspective. I’ve concluded through research that store managers and their assistants have 13 rewards they can use to attract, retain, and motivate workers.

Over the next two columns I’d like to share some observations about these rewards. First, over time the relative importance of these rewards changes. Knowing this can help you design your reward structure to fit employee needs. Consider these trends across all employees and industries.

Compensation: There is a long-term trend toward more variable (commissions and bonuses) pay for all levels of employees. Even lower-level employees find 4 percent of their total compensation in the bonus category. Why? Because in good times employers don’t mind sharing the wealth. In bad times no bonus is paid.

Benefits: Historically this expensive reward (averaging 30 percent of payroll) has been an employer sinkhole. Money goes in with no obvious benefit! Lately though, companies like McDonald’s have been allocating more to key benefits (health and pension) to build a stable, mature workforce that is less likely to turnover.

Social Interaction: A neglected reward that companies are just beginning to explore. If you select crewmembers who get along with one another, actually like each other, coming to work is fun. Fun translates into lower turnover.

Job Security: The ping-pong ball of rewards is important when unemployment is high and less so in good times. Guess how it ranks these days! That’s good news for quick-serves because they prosper in bad times. This is a good time to find great crewmembers to groom for future management jobs.

Status/Recognition: Yum! Brands proudly announces it has a recognition culture. Every manager is trained in ways to use recognition to motivate workers. It’s an inexpensive way to build a loyal workforce. Unfortunately many companies preach agreement but never follow through at the store level.

Work Variety: Important to some employees, frightening to others. Never a top-rated reward for employees but very important to store managers because increased skills mean increased flexibility for job assignments.

Work Load: Hugely important in the quick-serve industry. Store managers chronically understaff then go to the same crewmembers (yes, the best ones!) to bail them out. It doesn’t take long to make this a negative reward for the overburdened.

Does anyone offer a fruit substitution for the side options on the lunch menu. If so do you charge in addition for it?

I am considering offering it on the side on the menu. Currently we just get requests which we honor, but since the fruit is more expensive I was thinking about offering fruit as an upgrade on the menu for $1.50.

The company I work for is moving toward Managing Partners instead of GMs. There will be a buy-in for me and a base salary decrease but a bigger share of the profits. Has anyone experinced this transition or worked in a managing partnership environment? What are the major pros and cons? Thanks!

Hi all, I'm at wits end trying to decide what to do with my catering business. Business is not going very well with gas prices and orders are going slower. I can't seem to keep up with the rent/lease. I'm having to decide if I need to call it quits or move my business home. I was wondering if anyone had catering business experience from home.. and what kind of permits or laws or requirements do I need to meet to have catering from home.

Any information it greatly appreciated.