There’s no one-size-fits-all approach you can take to rewarding your team. These days, everyone has different motivators and that must be reflected in your workplace reward scheme. For some, an extra day of leave might be just what they need, while others might appreciate a voucher, a monetary bonus or even just a simple word of praise.
With so many potential workplace rewards available, we thought we’d take a look at some of the more innovative options you may not have considered before.
1. Volunteer days
Societal and environmental issues have never been as important to employees as they are today. Research shows that when employees feel their employer is socially responsible, they experience a greater sense of shared identity with the company they work for. The result is a happier, harder working team.
Introducing volunteer days that allow high performing employees to have a day off to work with a charity or community initiative of their choice can be win-win for employer and employee. As well as doing something meaningful and helping to boost the brand in the local community, it can increase the happiness of the employee and improve their workplace productivity.
2. ‘Wellness’ rewards
It might sound like a cliché but HR professionals agree that healthy workers are not only happier but are also harder working. ‘Wellness’ rewards that encourage employees to live healthier lives, such as free or subsidised gym memberships, can be beneficial to staff and employers alike. Even investing in the food they eat, such as arranging a weekly delivery of fresh office fruit baskets, can bring real benefits.
3. Offer an ‘idea bounty’
One of the most valuable things employees can offer an organisation is new ideas. Offering an ‘idea bounty’ i.e. a monetary reward for fully fleshed out ideas, can boost innovation in the company and increase the bottom line. Ideas could range from incremental changes to existing processes that improve efficiency to completely new products, services or ways of doing things. If the idea is implemented then the employee who developed the idea should be rewarded, whether it’s with a set amount or a share of the financial benefit the idea brings.
4. More workplace flexibility
Millennial workers value flexibility like no other generation before. They want to achieve a healthy work-life balance and to do that they need some choice about when they work, how they work and even where they work. Replacing a structured 9-5 working day with flexi-time or even allowing workers to fit their weekly hours into a four-day working week could be hugely beneficial to you and your team.
What employee rewards work particularly well for your organisation? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
