Pay and benefits as well as opportunities for promotion have been the primary tools of engagement building for many organizations for years. Lately I have been reading more and more about using non-standard rewards. Good idea? Maybe. But it can backfire.

Line managers are often caught in the middle. They want to motivate their employees and keep them around for a while. After all, keeping employees longer makes good business sense and it reduces their day-to-day hassles, but they don’t always have the authority to divert resources into employee’s paychecks. So, they “think outside the box” and devise other schemes such as pizza parties, outings, at-desk massages, etc. Now, most of these non-standard perks have nothing to do with money or career development and may not even be related to the job in any way. They are just little ways to say “thank you” and show employees that you have their best interests at heart. But are they seen this way? That depends.

I know from my own personal experience that if something like this is offered from a manager that you do not trust then it is viewed not as a perk but as a bribe or at the very least as a deception. You don’t believe that the person has your best interest at heart so you jump to the conclusion that he is out to get you – smiling and shaking your hand while stabbing you in the back.

So, what’s a manager to do? The simple rule here is to work on the fundamentals first. When I was Director of Research at The Loyalty Institute we developed a model of the key organizational drivers of employee engagement. This research-based model showed that managers must first establish a firm foundation of physical and psychological safety and a competitive pay and benefits structure. This was necessary to take care of the basic needs of employees. Don’t offer them silly perks if they can’t put food on their tables. Once you have these basics in place, then you can explore other avenues to add to your basic motivational structure.

Employees are not stupid. Don’t give them fluff before substance. If you really do have their best interests at heart and you readily demonstrate this day after day, then you will build a firm foundation of trust.