How to reward employees effectively.

As businesses grow and evolve, HR are often faced with the question of how to reward employees. You know you need an employee rewards program to attract and retain talent, but how to deliver those rewards is another question.

While some companies will have embedded employee programs to reward and recognise employees, others will be starting with a blank canvas. The good news is, there are lots of ways to reward employees and it can be really simple. The other good news is, an employee rewards program can be set-up pretty quickly. 

Following these key guidelines to maximise the effectiveness of your employee rewards program and encourage employee engagement and loyalty.

How to reward employees / Types of reward

When deciding what type of rewards to offer employees, it’s important to consider a few key factors.

First and foremost, rewards should be relevant to your team. Consider the demographics of all employees, the types of things they enjoy and the environment they work in. If your employees are Millennials who work in service roles, your rewards will likely be different than if you team are multiple generations working in knowledge based roles. 

Another thing to think about when looking at how to reward employees is making employees will find the rewards aspirational. You want to give them something they will be motivated to seek out, something they maybe can't get elsewhere or wouldn't buy for themselves.

And finally, when considering how to reward employees, make sure the rewards are accessible and achievable for all employees. What that means is, employees are likely to earn enough points to redeem for something they desire - or be given a reward directly - in a reasonable timeframe.

It will do more damage to employee attitudes, than good, if you are offering rewards that are so high in value that employees can't earn them.

How to reward employees / Frequency

Rewarding employees for their actions reinforces the behaviour itself as well as the employees' sense of being valued. Rewarding frequently is is beneficial as it means employees will be more likely to repeat the behaviours they are being rewarded for.

However, reinforcement for positive actions does not always require a large reward to be given to the employee. Endorsing an employees actions and achievements can be celebrated with recognition, face-to-face praise or a small reward that can be 'banked' to save for something larger. 

A good rule of thumb is to recognise employees as frequently as possible and add reward when their efforts are particularly worthy. Of course, some of this will come down to your employee rewards budgets, the value of the employee rewards you are giving and who can give rewards.

In general thought, how frequently you reward is a good thing to consider when thinking about how to reward employees. 

How to reward employees / Administration

There are a few different methods you can use to administer employee rewards.

You can bulk purchase rewards to give employees face-to-face or keep stock of rewards in your workplace. Managers can then gives these out as needed and you can track them manually. While this is one way to issue them, it is time consuming to manually manage and process rewards this way.

A better way to give employee rewards is using an online employee recognition program. With an online platform, you can give points that can be redeemed for merchandise and gift cards or rewards that get shipped directly to the employee. The platform offers you hands-off administration with full transparency and reporting. You can choose the types of rewards available, who can give them and who can earn them. You can even track rewards to different cost centres.

While an online platform will automate much of the administration, you still have full control and transparency over how to reward employees.  

Whichever method you choose, make sure that it’s easy to manage and well executed.

How to reward employees / Considerations

it's not just how to reward employees that you should think about when you think holistically about employee rewards.

It is also important to have a clear understanding of your company’s current culture and the culture you want to foster. Any employee reward programs will feed into your culture so it is important that you think about the impact.

Also, be sure to consider any costs associated with implementing and running your program. There is not only the cost of the rewards themselves, but the cost of any software, administration, communication and service for the program.

While much of this can be inhouse, it can be time consuming, especially for larger companies where lots of rewards will be issued.

Starting with a blank canvas can seem daunting when thinking about how to reward employees - but it doesn't have to be.

Effective rewards are desirable, frequent, well managed with no delivery issues and easy to administer. Take these things into consideration and your employee rewards program will power your culture and motivate your team.