Managers Are Usually The Ones Awarding Bonuses. What If Your Co-Worker Could?

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A Boulder-based company called Bonusly has added a twist to the way you and your co-workers can give and receive bonuses.

With the Bonusly website and app, workers get small amounts of money, gift cards, or donations to a charity from their peers, not necessarily managers -- in a matter of seconds, co-founder Raphael Crawford-Marks tells Colorado Matters. He says the idea came about after he and co-founder John Quinn were venting about the lack of recognition at work, and companies that only asked managers to dole out recognition and spot bonuses. The two believed their peers had the best perspective for identifying and celebrating contributions, but there was no way to for them to do so easily. Bonusly grew from that.

Steve Boese, who organizes an international technology conference for people who work in human resources, says that for more and more companies, the need to retain good workers is a challenge. They can go anywhere, so companies have to make them happy, and he says technology is one of the easiest ways to meet the challenge. Bonusly fits into that paradigm, he says.