Cash on time

Martin/Williams thinks it has come up with the solution to the ongoing problem of getting people to turn in their time sheets promptly: Bribe them.

Next year, the Minneapolis agency will award $500 to every employee who turns in all of their timesheets on deadline. Every time a staffer misses a deadline, the agency will reduce that bonus by $10.

“Why are we doing this? You’ve all heard it before—we make money by billing time. No timesheets, no money, no good,” wrote Tim Frojd, the agency’s chief financial officer, in a companywide e-mail.

Frojd says the agency has tried several techniques to motivate employees to turn in their billing sheets on time, most only “to average success.”