[argggg]

Profit sharing is especially tough at service level jobs. The truth is, most of the folks who do work at that level don't understand the long-term value of getting stock options/profit sharing bonuses/etc.

A friend of mine tried to implement profit sharing to reward employees and to stop theft at his restaurant. Basically paying out a monthly bonuses based on how well the restaurant did that month, but which would go down by the amount of theft.

Theft actually increased because no one really understood the bonus program (even though the bonuses would have paid more than the theft!)

I guess what I am saying, there are no easy answers and a lot of the most 'logical' incentives are only really incentivizing to a certain demographic.

[s1artibartfast]

I think that is a bit of a different problem than lack of applicants. That said, I don't think service workers are too stupid to understand the concept of a monthly bonus up to $X. I wonder if something else was going on. Collective punishment for individual can hurt morale for sure. Was the total theft less than each individual's bonus.