Reward and Recognition
Photo by Courtney Hedger on Unsplash
Have you ever thought ‘isn’t their salary their reward’?
According to a recent study, 65% of employees reported they receive no recognition for their work. The study also highlighted that 89% of employers feel that most employees leave their companies to earn more money, when in reality most employees leave due to a lack of recognition.
Employees are a company’s most valuable resource, therefore having a ‘isn’t their salary their reward’ mindset is not always beneficial. It is important for employers to have effective reward and recognition practices in place to increase employee engagement.
How to create a successful culture of Reward and Recognition
Be Specific and Relevant: recognition is more meaningful when it relates to a particular accomplishment or business goal. So when recognising employees explain what the recognition is for. This helps them relate the recognition to their behaviour further encouraging continued strong performance.
Be Timely: recognise employee accomplishments promptly instead of waiting to conduct a formal feedback session.
Personalise: tailor reward and recognition to your employees. Use a range of both monetary and non-monetary incentives.
Connect: recognise all ‘good’ behaviours and accomplishments which align with organisational values and mission. This will connect your employees to the company’s mission, purpose and values while highlighting behaviour that influences business goals.
Involve leadership team: encourage managers to create a culture of continuous recognition and appreciation, through correct and frequent enforcement.
Types of Reward and Recognition
It is important to tailor reward and recognition to your organisation, so that it reflects your culture and values. However, below are most widely used rewards to engage, motivate and inspire employees:
Peer-to-peer recognition: encourage your employees to recognise each other’s accomplishments and provide positive feedback.
Long-service awards: celebrate employee milestones e.g. anniversaries, promotion.
Instant recognition: visible performance metrics to reward employees immediately instead of waiting for a formal review process.
Rewards: use a range of monetary and non-monetary incentives such as bonuses, gift cards, lunch or words of acknowledgement.
Benefits
Having meaningful reward and recognition practices in place can:
Increase employee engagement
Encourage high performance
Retain top talent or improve retention rates
Increase job satisfaction
Create an effective team culture and
Allow businesses to become an employer of choice.