Day 5 of Full Employment is a Threat to Your Business

Rewarding Employees when they perform well.

Day 5

In Day 4 we learned how Respect can have a massive positive effect on employee engagement, staff retention and attraction. Today, we will look at the positive impact that employee incentives can have in the workplace.

Employees who move your business forward and continually exceed your expectations should be rewarded. So how do you do this?

A simple public “Thank you” in recognition of a job well done can be highly motivational. Offering employees extra incentives is a great way of attracting and retaining people with essential skills & positive attitude. Having a reward and recognition strategy will help you achieve your goals.

The first step is to ensure you have the budget to fund your strategy. It is a key investment in your business to secure your future. Your business is under threat if you cannot attract and retain skilled people with a positive attitude.

So what do the rewards and incentives look like?

Micro & SME no budget or do not incentivise

Rewards which may be offered to Businesses with Little or No budget or do not incentivise employees

Rewards which may be offered to Individual Employees of Businesses Offering Incentives

Rewards which may be offered to Teams & Team Members within Businesses Offering Incentives

Rewards which may be offered to All Employees within Businesses Offering Incentives

Define your objectives and outcomes in your Reward & Recognition Strategy for both the employee and your business.

There are too many rewards to list here so I will outline the basic groups. To see the full range of rewards visit websites such as Perbox or Staff Treats

Rewards needn’t cost money. Personal verbal recognition & praise of an employee has no associated cost and is a great motivator. To make them feel really valued put it in writing.

There are many “no cost” rewards which recognise your employees’ successes, including “Employee of the Month” who gets a reserved car parking space for a month.

Updating employees with regular internal Newsletters or at regular Team meetings keeps them informed. Make them feel valued by sharing your company news, successes and new developments. Ask employees to share personal stories in the newsletter. Just like a family!

Depending on your business giving staff discounts can be a great way to reward your staff – saving them money and helping to increase your sales.

This can only be offered if you are a Limited Company.

An Employee Share Scheme for all employees where shares are free or discounted is very popular. Shares are awarded at set intervals in their employment, providing they have achieved agreed criteria. Owning shares in your workplace produces a feeling of Pride and can produce cost savings, such as switching off lights and keeping their work station tidy etc. BEFORE setting up such a scheme PLEASE take legal advice from a qualified Financial Advisor, Solicitor or your Accountant.

Everyone loves receiving gifts as a token of gratitude, appreciation and recognition. This can be for a job well done or work anniversary. Gifts range from a box of chocolates to a case of wine or a dinner for 2 at a Michelin starred restaurant, in fact, anything, dependent on your business and your budget.

In an extensive report by Gallup the findings indicated no significant difference in employee engagement by pay level. This is why many people say that money isn’t the most important factor when considering a job or career move.

However, in terms of motivation within a job, the EXTRA money can be an important incentive for target driven employees. This doesn’t necessarily mean that staff are in a sales or customer service environment where commissions and/or bonuses are commonplace. They could equally be in any department where timeliness and quality are important. A bonus for meeting the deadlines or quality standards will help to improve productivity.

Where objectives are linked such, as with quality & timeliness, the bonuses must also be linked. If the tasks are completed within time but not to quality standards or vice versa no bonuses should be paid.

Your business is successful and profitable so give a year-end bonus to all your employees, as a Thank You for their help in creating your success. It creates a WIN-WIN situation for you and your workforce.

“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” Henry Ford

Your employees are ambitious and want to be the best at what they do. Make them even better by training and developing them. Rewarding employees with training enriches them and it enriches your business. Why would any employee leave you for another employer if that employer is offering a higher salary but doesn’t offer training and development? Probably only those that you don’t want.

According to Gallup 87% of Millennials want jobs at companies where they can see themselves growing, both professionally and personally.

When you offer employees the opportunity to experience something that they love without having to worry about the cost is a fantastic reward for success. Whether it is a meal at their favourite restaurant, tickets and all expenses for a prestigious sporting event, a gift card or a weekend mindfulness experience, the list is massive and caters for all tastes and budgets.

Who doesn’t crave for some extra time off with pay? The opportunity for a Friday or Monday off to make a long weekend or the opportunity to come into work an hour later or leave an hour earlier for a week or any given period. Other examples for time off can be Birthdays, Anniversaries, their children’s school open days etc… Rewarding employees with ‘Time’ shows you value them and can make them even more productive.

To truly engage employees, activities for the whole company or a team can promote a feeling of belonging. For Company activities, this is particularly true when individuals & teams are situated in different areas of the country or even the world. Activities can range from team building days to festive seasons parties when partners of employees are invited, possibly with an overnight stay, through to full scale Company Conferences and anything in between.

Rewarding your people strengthens and increases employee engagement and the relationship that they have with your business.

That’s day 5. Day 6 is about how Understanding your Employees’ Personal and professional goals will increase their loyalty to you.

Contact me now to increase your employee retention, productivity & profitability.

Message me through LinkedIn or give me a call on +44 (0)1529 413476 or email me at paul@healdi.co.uk

About the Author Paul Clayton FISM

Hello, my name is Paul Clayton and I help SME’s and large businesses like yours to find, attract and gain new customers while boosting profitable sales to your existing customers.

Start the process to take you, your people and your business to the next level. Contact me to arrange your complimentary, no-obligation business review: T: +44 (0) 1529 413476 E: paul@healdi.co.uk

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