SmallBusinessNewz

Not every person in every company should be issued a top-of-the-line laptop, a premium cell phone, and whatever other business-related gadgets they might occasionally use.  But it's important to make sure you're at least providing for their basic needs.

A study conducted by In-Stat found that "nearly 40 percent of employees bought the laptop they regularly use for business purposes and 43 percent purchased their own smart phone (such as a BlackBerry)," according to Rieva Lesonsky.

If this was stuff they would have purchased, anyway, so be it.  Laptops and smart phones are pretty common, after all.  If employees feel forced to buy things in order to perform their jobs, though, a certain amount of frustration and resentment is likely to come about as a result.

This applies to smaller matters, too.  Try to reimburse people for things like roaming charges and data plans if business issues make them spend more than they otherwise would.  Unless you're letting them take home office supplies whenever the mood strikes, freebies shouldn't go the other way, either.

Fair's fair.  Take stock of what tools and equipment your employees use (or should use) on a regular basis, and then fill in the gaps as necessary.