[Lanelle]

If you're looking to reward ideas that increase productivity or save the company money, make the rewards small, frequent and accessible. If you make the rewards large and the process intimidating, you risk paralizing the whole thing and people are actually less willing to risk making a suggestion that they think may not be 'worthy enough' to get the 'big reward.' People like to be acknowledged, complimented and appreciated. The tangible reward is still important but may actually be secondary to the approval and satisfaction derived from the owner bestowing an appropriate emotional reward.

A bonus system to reward greater production and profitability that is accomplished by the workers is a different thing entirely. I agree that providing a way to maximize earnings is important and helps keep down the temptation for hourly employees to ride the overtime clock at your expense.