With Christmas approaching, it is a good time to study the worker's perception when he/she receives a payment in kind such as a Christmas bonus and/or an invitation from business to Christmas lunch or dinner, both of which are the most traditional, although there are companies that have replaced the Christmas bonus with other details, such as lottery shares.

Of this subject of retributions in kind, it is questioned if they motivate or not the worker. Some do and some don't, depending on how they are approached.

Motivating people on work is still a subject that some managers have yet to find out about approve. Motivation is difficult, it is not a quantifiable issue within the workshop work because it does not consist of planning time on the diary to motivate.

The manager or the person who believes in it motivates and introduces in the organization, in the department or in the work team, the conditions for people to find themselves in a satisfactory environment.

Another difficulty arises from the fact that each person is motivated in a different way; what works for one does not work for another. But although each worker is different, it is not a matter of the manager or manager inventing as many ways of satisfying the workers as issue of them, since there are common patterns of behavior in the collective of employees.

Compensation
Let us return to the analysis of the perception that workers have of Christmas bonuses. The term aguinaldo is understood to mean the basket, package or box that is given to the employee at submission with products such as nougat, cava, wine, cold meats, etc., undoubtedly the oldest tradition. The business can also give boxes of wine, cava or other products.

The Christmas lunch or dinner, of attendance voluntary, is something that has developed a lot in the last decades as one more form of communication, within the management of human resources of the organizations. This event serves as a form of downward and upward communication:

- Downward, from management downwards, because some companies take advantage of it to meet, congratulate each other for Christmas, thank each other for their participation during the year that is ending and give encouragement for the coming year. Other companies go further and in this area of meeting, they communicate to the workers data how the year has gone and the future perspectives. They can also pay tribute to those who are retiring, submit mentions, trophies for sports or leisure competitions and other things. There is no limit to the ways of motivating, and there are companies that promote music groups, theater, mountaineering and social works.

- Upward, from the workers upwards, because the gastronomic event can encourage a employee to talk to their superiors. Upward communication is the most difficult because people are reluctant to knock on the door of the bosses' office if they do not trust them.

Are these details justified at Christmas? Sometimes not.
Regarding the basket or package, there are companies where it is well received by workers and there are those where, in addition to not motivating, it serves as a criticism because they consider the content to be poor and routine.

Lottery shares
There are companies that prefer submit Christmas lottery shares. In this case it is necessary to analyze the perception of the workers in the case that the lottery has replaced the basket. The employee can consider that the submission of a lottery participation supposes a reduction with respect to the traditional Christmas bonus, no matter how bad it was.

As for the Christmas feast, in theory it makes it easier for people to get close, but it is not necessary to wait for an annual feast to do so. A director can go any day to a department, have a coffee with the workers and communicate. This enriches the work environment, it is the day to day, and then the banquet can serve as the culmination of a special time for almost everyone.

But sometimes dinners or lunches do not meet expectations compared to their cost, because there is a bad atmosphere at business. The event does not solve the lack of communication or a bad working environment. There are workers who do not feel like going to dinner or lunch, but they go for fear of being looked down upon.

If the work environment in a business is good, not attend has no justification but if the work environment is bad anything is justified, from not attend to doing it for fear of retaliation.

Simple answer
What decision does management have to make regarding these in-kind rewards? The answer is simple. If they do not serve to motivate the immediate decision is to eliminate them, but it is necessary to dialogue with the workers' representatives and reach a consensus to allocate the money that these retributions in kind represent, which do not motivate, to other concepts that can be more useful such as scholarships for workers' children, pension plans, childcare assistance and attractive financial loans for the worker, provided that the business can meet the cost they represent and without a life-long nature.

The culture of change of the management and workers must be the one that dictates the best solution for the moment.