By Leigh-Ann Athanasius
In the last few years, especially post-pandemic, people are often looking to find fulfilment in their jobs beyond the basic salary and benefits. The benefits of an engaged workforce are clear, but coming up with the right set of initiatives to build that engagement is a challenge all organisations face.
For HR professionals, fostering an environment where employees feel engaged and valued is a top priority. One of the main ways to boost employee engagement is by recognising and rewarding employees for a job well done. Rewards, although many are tangible (salary increments, bonuses, additional leave days etc.), don’t have to be. Recognition can be a powerful engagement tool that involves acknowledging an employee’s efforts; which can be formal or informal. Both rewards and recognition work in tandem to reinforce exemplary effort while making the employees feel valued and appreciated.
Here are few ways that you can recognise and reward your employees, beyond pay rises.
Develop a holistic recognition programme
One way to ensure that rewards are being efficiently handled is to develop a formal recognition programme. Consider a programme that:
- Factors in multilevel recognition – this is one where the praise is not only top-down but also incorporates peer recognition.
- Can be integrated into existing office systems – employees are likely to buy in to the recognition programme if it is one that is easy to integrate into their everyday work process. This is especially true if you are using an external platform to manage the recognition and rewards system.
- Has customised rewards – Don’t assume one size fits all when it comes reward selection. It is best to understand what incentives work best for the different employees or have a selection of rewards that employees can choose from so that they feel most appreciated.
There are various platforms that offer these rewards tracking programs that make tracking and redeeming of rewards a simple process. However, it can also be a simple internal system that all employees are aware of that is managed by the HR department if you are not looking to invest in third party platform just yet. This is especially true if you have a smaller organisation/number of staff.
Encourage limitless recognition
This is rooted in the culture of the organisation. If there is a scarcity mentality, then the team may be more apprehensive about praising each other for every achievement, or managers about praising their teams. It is important to create a culture that allows for continuous feedback within the organisation. If employees feel like they are at an organisation where recognition for their work is the norm, they are more likely to work harder towards achieving their goals, as well as encouraging their teammates to do the same. It wouldn’t feel like the acknowledgment is a limited resource that only a few can attain.
Part of limitless recognition can include non-work-related achievements, such as celebrating milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, having a baby etc. This shows employees that even their personal wins are cause for celebration. It reinforces the idea that recognition and encouragement are a value of the company and will likely lead to more engaged employees because they know even the smallest efforts are being noticed and appreciated.
Public recognition
Being acknowledged on a more public forum lets your employees show their work to others. This can be in meetings, internal communications platforms, or on social media platforms like LinkedIn. Most people are on social media regularly anyway, so the company recognising them there, gives them the opportunity to share their achievements further. This can be applied to appreciating the whole team or an individual basis.
In some cases, you can consider adding the team or top performers to the company website to showcase their achievements. This can be done by having a separate section on the website that highlights the top achievers. Employee of the month programmes are also easy ways to publicly acknowledge the employee’s efforts while motivating other employees to try and attain the title.
Monetary gifts
This is typically the go-to when thin king about rewards in the workplace. Bonuses are always effective and can be given for achieving a particular goal and tend to go well with the employee of the month programmes. Other monetary equivalent gifts include:
- Gift cards and vouchers – Going the gift card/voucher route also enables guilt-free spending for the employee. Since the reward is not literal cash, they have to spend it ‘treating’ themselves rather than on a more practical use which could end up not feeling like it was reward at all.
- Experiences – these can be like tickets to a sports game/movie/play etc, a bucket-list item or even a trip out of town
- Physical items – These can include customised stationary, hampers, appliances, subscription boxes etc.
This is where the customised rewards come in because it is important to know what an employee would value. Surveys on reward preferences would be the best way to get an idea of what the employees would appreciate.
Professional growth opportunities
Knowing that there are opportunities for growth such as trainings, short courses or conferences are available as a reward is good for improving engagement because the employees get the feeling that the organisation is willing to invest in their betterment. This is a win-win for the company as they are also gaining a more skilled employee. The biggest benefit around this is the long-lasting impact on the employees’ career, unlike most monetary rewards.
Extra days off
Additional time-off on top of the regular policy boosts work-life balance which can significantly improves your employees’ relationship with work and thus make them more engaged when they are at work.
How to run your rewards programme effectively
It’s one thing to know that you have a rewards and recognition system, but it is more important to have it implemented effectively. The main thing being that rewards and recognition need to be timely – especially recognition. Don’t wait for performance reviews to then let your team members and employees know that they are doing a good job. The longer you wait to give the praise, the less effective it will be. Employees are likely to become disengaged if they are only receiving feedback once a year.
Be consistent and fair with the criteria for rewards and recognition. This will build trust in the programme and ensure that all employees remain engaged. If it seen that some employees being repeatedly overlooked despite their contributions, they are going to disengage and the whole point of the programme will fall short.
Keep track of the rewards programme to show you which employees/teams are becoming disengaged and are no longer putting in the level of effort that you would expect. HR departments can assess the effectiveness by tracking how often recognition and rewards are being given out and whether the quality of the work reflects the same. By creating a culture of appreciation and recognition, organisations can boost morale, increase productivity, and retain top talent.
