If you think money is what makes an employee happy then you just keep throwing dollars at them till they smile.I have seen top payed guys walk off the job because their was no toilet paper in the outhouse.
If a top payed guy walks off the job because there's no toilet paper in the outhouse he has other issues. If I'm being paid top dollar and receiving top benefits I can afford to bring my own toilet paper to work.
Money isn't the only thing that makes an employee happy but it's a big part of it.
Try telling your employees that there will be no raises for the next five to ten years and you'll no longer be providing health insurance and paid vacation but you'll make sure there's plenty of toilet paper in the outhouse. See how happy that makes them.
I guess if you can make working for you so much fun the employee is happy even if they aren't getting paid anything then that's great. Maybe they'll even be willing to pay you to come to work and have so much fun.
If I'm getting filthy rich I can afford to provide top pay and benefits to my employees and I'll make sure there's plenty of toilet paper to go around. I can see operating more effiecently but I don't agree with operating more effiecently at the expense of the employee. That's just my feelings.