Having employee rewards and recognition program can help a lot when it comes to motivating and increasing engagement within the organization. But you have to come up with things that be effective. Just putting in simple rewards won’t help you.
Here are some of the tips that you can use while implementing your very own Employee rewards program:
Involve the employee while developing the program
Getting the employees to pitch in ideas, and taking their response while you set some rewards is a great idea. This can lead to a reward program that not only works but will also allow your employees to take an interest in the program and make genuine efforts to achieve them.
Ensure the rewards are worth the work
Employees need to see the rewards as something they would like to have. Managers should consider this point while designing the program. It’s the employees in the end who’ll be working hard, so they need to judge whether they will work hard for something that you have offered them as a reward.
Make sure employee know how to achieve the reward
Making a program is not enough; you need to make them understand how they need to obtain compensation. They’ll have questions once you present them the program, and you should be ready to explain these rewards in detail, so there are no scenarios in the end where an employee worked hard for something which isn’t on the list. Once they understand the reward, they’ll be more motivated to achieve it.
Set standards that are achievable
There should never be a reward for which an employee has to work too extensively. You, as a manager, need to kee[ that in mind while designing the program. Employees need to see that the rewards are achievable. Employees will engage only if this is possible for them. Don’t forget to offer them a dashboard where employees can see their progress and achievements. This will allow them to assess their performance.
Make sure the reward system is fair
You need to make sure the reward and recognition program is fair to every employee in the organization. If you are distributing the rewards based on objective data, employees will view this as appropriate and are more inclined to make efforts in the future.
This will also help them increase their motivation towards achieving a particular reward they’ve always wanted. Never lean into things like favoritism etc. which will only lead to a decrease in engagement and motivation.
Performance equals Rewards
If you want your rewards to have the most impact on employee performance, you need to link both of these to achieve such a result. Employees need to understand that there is a connection between how well they perform, the better the rewards they will receive. Once this understanding is established, employees will perform optimally in the future.
Recognize accomplishments
You need to reward employees regardless of the size of the achievement. Don’t set bars that are too high to achieve. If an employee is working hard and has achieved something that previously wasn’t there, you should recognize it. Take it as progress that couldn’t have been made without them.
Teamwork rewards
If you set team-based incentives, it can increase the performance of individual employees. As an organization, team-based rewards need to be included in the organization strategy.
Immediate rewards
Once the employee archives a specific goal, they should be awarded immediately. If employees are made to wait for their rewards, this will only lead to decreasing performance and interest in further activities.
Financial and non-financial rewards
Create a mix of both when it comes to offering rewards for the recognition program. Rewards such as recognition and praise have known to be one of the greatest motivators for increased performance in employees. Financial rewards can also be useful if the amount is relevant to how the employee performed.
Don’t disclose the value of non-monetary rewards
If employees don’t know the value of non-monetary rewards they have received, they tend to be more motivated compared to when they know the monetary value of a reward. It’s an excellent strategy to not disclose these values to them.
Try to implement some of these tips when you decide to design the rewards programs for your company, and don’t forget to take Continous feedback from your employees, from time to time to understand how they feel about this.