Your employees are an integral part of your business. Their happiness within the workplace will determine employee retention and future successes.
Positive reinforcement is essential to keeping your employees happy. Sometimes, a busy work life may foster a disconnect between employee performance and your appreciation. These five tips will help to bridge the gap in providing employee reward and appreciation.
Encourage their feedback and ideas
It’s likely that your employees will have brilliant, creative ideas. Involve them in the decision-making process for company-wide matters.
Ask for their input in something as simple as the location for the next team lunch, or as challenging as how to land a new client. This will show your appreciation for their insight. Your employees must feel as though they are a part of a team, rather than feeling like their voice will never be heard.
Other ways to include your employees in feedback and ideas include a suggestion box for anonymous submissions or a voting system. Consider using a voting system for employee benefits, or simply have them choose their employee benefit of preference.
Use a gamification system
Create a list of tasks your employees could perform. Give them the option of choosing tasks according to their preference. Upon completion, reward employees with points. Their points could be used to redeem or auction for various prizes.
You could offer a paid lunch, vouchers, extra annual leave, an afternoon off work or even a day off on their birthdays. An interactive and fun competition could liven up the workplace environment. It will also give employees the chance to be rewarded according to personal preference.
Hold a friendly competition
Have each team present their accomplishments each month during the staff meeting. Vote for the winner, who can be rewarded with a team lunch. Alternatively, keep score each month and offer a larger prize at the end of the year. This is a light-hearted way to end a staff meeting and motivate employees to perform at their best. Other great options for company competitions include company trivia and sales-based rewards.
Implement flexible working conditions
Employees will always work better when they have a good work-life balance. Working from home may not be an option in some professions, but more flexible working hours could be implemented.
For example, give your employees the option to leave early some days, then make up their lost time on other days. You could also give employees the option to leave early if they’re up to date with their work.
Another possibility could be flexibility with their start times. This could be helpful for employees with young families, or those with long commutes.
Consider employing part-time or having share work options to cater to those who cannot commit to full-time hours.
Introduce employee-to-employee appreciation
Create an environment where appreciation between colleagues is also the norm.
Utilise a pay-it-forward system. Nominate an Employee of the Month and the next month, it will be their turn to nominate one of their colleagues. This encourages employees to show gratitude towards their peers and the value of teamwork.
As well as announcing your Employee of the Month during your staff meeting, recognise each employee of the month elsewhere. This could be in a company newsletter or social media post celebrating their achievements.
The corporate world can be an unforgiving place, but it doesn’t have to be! Employee rewards and appreciation don’t always have to be monetary. The easiest way to start is by sharing your words of gratitude to show your appreciation towards your employees. Just remember, employee appreciation should be an ongoing process.
Author bio:
Freelance writer, Maia Fletcher hails from the sun-kissed city of Gisborne, New Zealand. Get to know more about Maia on her personal blog.
