Simple cash rewards do not have a lasting effect on employee engagement. To promote engagement you need to reward achievement creatively, publically and in a timely fashion.
A reward is more than just a cash incentive to work harder and accomplish more. It’s an acknowledgment from managers and higher-ups that an employee’s efforts have been recognized, are appreciated, and have had an impact on the company’s performance.
A company’s rewards strategy should broaden the definition of rewards beyond money by offering a number of different non-monetary remunerations:
- Promotions
o An engaged culture promotes from within. Honor employee achievement through promotions and/or stretch assignments.
- Training and Development
o Offering employees training and development opportunities produces co-created engagement wherein the company is offering to help the employee and the employee is looking to help the company.
o Educating and challenging star employees improves the chances that they will remain with the company and bring success.
o Consider offering employees the chance to attend offsite training programs, industry conferences or seminars.
- Time-Off
o Work-life balance is increasingly of great concern to many employees—reward your high-achievers with time off to spend as they please.
- Flex-Time
o A flexible work schedule also plays a role in work-life balance. Employees who have shown themselves to be dedicated and responsible workers can be rewarded with the freedom to make their own schedule.
- Privileges and Perks
o Get creative and offer employees privileges and perks. For instance you can reward high achievers with the opportunity to leave early or take a longer lunch. Perks can include gift cards or a free lunch.
Regardless of how you choose to reward your employees it’s critical that you remember that rewards are not about being even-handed. Rewards must be aligned with employee performance and achievement. When you reward all employees equally, even the ones who are average or below-average employees, you aren’t providing incentive for high-performers to continue their actions, nor are you encouraging low-performers to improve.
Rewards should be creative but they should also be timely. Promptly follow-up desired behaviors with rewards so that employees feel that their superiors are paying attention. Prompt rewarding also ensures that employees remember what it is they did to deserve the reward and increases the chances that the behavior will continue.
Lastly, when rewarding an employee for their work, be sure to inform the rest of the company publically. Not only will this increase the employee’s feeling of recognition but it will help incentivise other employees as well.
The post Reward Achievement; Promote Engagement appeared first on Employee Engagement Blog | Herd Wisdom.
