01 January, 2024

Building an Employee Rewards Program That Works

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Employee Appreciation
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Written by
Gifted Team
Recognizing the performances of your workers can benefit you with excellent ROI. While it may boost their productivity levels, it will contribute to amplifying your business outcomes.

Employee rewards are corporate incentives you present to the workforce when they exceed set goals. More and more companies are considering implementing such employee engagement activities for remote workers to improve their morale. You can always mix the rewards and bonuses selection to suit the respective goals.

What Is An Employee Rewards And Recognition Program?

You can run an effective employee recognition program to monitor the success of your workforce within the company. After gathering sufficient information and data, you can present the deserving employees with exciting gifts and bonuses.

Many organizations recognize the efforts of their staff on a common platform—this is where the internal workforce can redeem points for rewards upon receiving recognition. You must ideally consider an employee recognition program to motivate the workforce, boost their performance, and retain talent.

These remote work engagement activities directly contribute to posting key business metrics. You can develop an impactful employee recognition and reward program right now. However, it would be best to have the right knowledge, planning, and resources.

What Is The Purpose Of An Employee Rewards And Recognition Program?

In simple words, the fundamental purpose of an employee rewards and recognition program is to celebrate any employee achievement within the organization. It establishes a positive company culture while instilling a sense of teamwork, work ethic, and competition.

You can reward your employees through social recognition or by giving away points that can be available to them for future use. Your employees can redeem the points for rewards like gift cards, merchandise, or experiences.

What Is Rewards And Recognition?

As per the industry standard, you could opt for anything from a certificate of appreciation to a simple financial bonus. Rewards and recognition are effective tools for motivating the workforce to stay committed to work. We have identified several unique but effective approaches to rewards and recognition. However, some common elements remain prevalent in all those approaches.

You may begin by setting a fixed set of goals or objectives for your employees to achieve. When they meet those goals, they can expect heartfelt recognition and rewards from the leadership. You can select whatever type of rewards you want to offer. The common industry standard includes gift certificates, cash bonuses, paid time off, and public recognition.

The underlying benefit of running engagement activities for remote employees is that your organization can develop a culture of success through them. When you recognize staff for their outstanding performance and achievement, you encourage them to perform better in return for more appreciation.

How Do You Use Rewards And Recognition?

More and more companies worldwide are implementing employee rewards and recognition programs. The core reason behind this new inclusion is to enjoy the positive work environment that it promises. Moreover, they want to work towards increasing employee satisfaction within the workforce.

Rewards and Recognition Ideas - A Step-By-Step Breakdown

If you have decided to introduce a new employee rewards program to your workforce, you should consider several factors.

  • Budget
  • Company Vision
  • Company Goals

We have elaborated on the steps to design a great rewards program for your organization.

1. Define the purpose behind the program: Ideally, you should begin designing the employee reward program by identifying the company's goals.

2. Set a budget: You must figure out the maximum you can spend on the rewards program. There's always scope for revision in the future.

3. Identify reward criteria: Establish clear criteria that define the conditions for employees to qualify for rewards. This will improve your chances of developing a fair and competitive program.

4. Decide on your rewards: You can pick anything from the most generic gift cards to innovative gift boxes. It would be best if you could send out a survey to get the pulse of your workforce regarding employee rewards.

5. Run your program: Once you have developed the employee reward program, roll it out immediately. Ensure the employers have a detailed understanding and provide necessary feedback to improve its overall functioning.

Impressive Statistics on Employee Rewards & Recognition

As per our industry data points, an effective employee recognition program can boost the average employee performance up to a rough 10%. In simple terms, acknowledgment from the leadership can influence employee performance significantly. Thus, a well-designed employee reward scheme can indirectly benefit the company.

Moreover, if your employees have excellent job satisfaction, you will have a minimal probability of losing them to other companies. Remote team engagement activities can contribute to developing a sense of belonging within the workforce.

Their motivation to perform better each time will align perfectly with the company culture. This will result in the staff seeking more progress in the existing company than switching to another organization.

Excellent Ideas for Employee Rewards and Recognition Program

The practice of rewarding outstanding achievement is a long-standing tradition. Simply put, when you acknowledge someone for their successful performance, they feel joy and motivated. You push them to improve and inspire them to meet more significant goals.

We have amassed some practical ideas for employee rewards that can assist you in planning.

1. Birthday Celebrations

Shooting a formal email on your worker's birthday is the last thing you should do if you want to develop a bond with them. You must reach out to them with a more personal touch. How about getting a birthday cake in the office with the whole team showing up to sing the song?

If this seems unrealistic due to the vast workforce, you may consider sending a handwritten note with some thoughtful gifts. The intention here is to make the individual feel celebrated and recognized.

2. Peer-to-Peer Appreciation

If you have decided to run an employee recognition program, might we suggest the peer-to-peer appreciation model? Most companies have a platform that offers the potential for public recognition. If your organization fits this scenario, you must leverage your company-wide newsfeed.

Public recognition promises a substantial spotlight on employees that private recognition can't match up to. Their peers and colleagues can effortlessly keep up with any employee recognition via the company website- with the added option of user engagement to join in on the celebration.

Public recognition inspires the workforce to push their boundaries for success.

3. Monthly Newsletters

In the simplest terms, employee newsletters provide a smart digital communication medium. You can use them to convey relevant information to your staff, such as updates on employee recognition programs. Most companies leverage the employee newsletter to increase employee productivity.

The primary purpose of any newsletter is to generate employee engagement for more productivity. Therefore, your newsletter should effectively contribute to improving your workforce engagement. The content inside the newsletter will depend upon impending agendas and messages that need conveying across the workforce.

4. Gift Cards

The occasions might be endless—however, the tradition of corporate gift-giving is fast growing as a part of company culture across the globe. If you implement the employee reward program in your company for the first time, you will have a field day exploring the ideal gift options. While there is an ocean of employee gift options available online, we suggest you take the smart option of gift cards.

Employee gift cards promise much more than great gifting options—they are extremely popular and highly effective in motivating the workforce. They can be your one-stop solution for the employee recognition program within your organization. Gift cards are a smart option to boost employee morale.

5. Personalized Gifts

If the tried-and-tested options for corporate gifting don't tickle your fancy, then you must consider exploring personalized gifts. They offer a fantastic opportunity for companies to show their appreciation with a personal touch. You can essentially do away with boring office supplies and meaningless trinkets. Personalized gifts can assist you in establishing a bond with the employee that can last.

Options like a personalized photo frame featuring a memorable team moment or custom-engraved pens prove that you realize their hard work. Customized gifts are an innovative tool for conveying your gratitude to the employees. Furthermore, you can also instill a sense of belonging within the workforce with these gifts.

6. Tickets for Events

Your employee recognition gift should effectively convey your gratitude to the workforce. Since they come in all shapes and sizes, you have endless opportunities. Moreover, there is no uniformity or expected standards regarding employee recognition gifts.

Your choice of corporate gifts must invoke care, usefulness, and a wow factor from the recipient. In simple terms, they should be more than just generic office supplies. It would be best to pick an option that shows your employees they're valued. How about presenting them with exclusive tickets to the event of their choice? It could be a rock concert or a sports match.

7. Organize Lunch for Top Performers

To boost your employee morale, you don't have to arrange unique virtual team-building activities or an in-house spa session. A simple team lunch can be an effective option since going big doesn't necessarily mean getting good. You must ideally follow a pattern of hosting a monthly company lunch for the top performers in the organization. A team lunch offers the ideal opportunity for employers and employees to exchange ideas and have fun together.

Despite the abundance of innovative team bonding exercises, you will not find a more practical option than team-building lunches. Moreover, you may also benefit from hosting the warm, free lunch for the team as it will allow you to learn about your workforce beyond their job roles.

8. Learning and Development Rewards

Lastly, you could reward your workers by allowing them to expand their skillsets on the company cash. There are endless incentives on offer if the employees can complete skill training. Ideally, You should decide on the incentives that can inspire a learning culture instead of rewards for completing the particular course.

Many companies use financial incentives to encourage their workforce towards training completion. However, it would be best if you promised the incentive as the training cost reimbursement instead of a training completion prize. Promising an outcome-based monetary incentive against the training completion certificate can compel your workforce to sign up for long-term skill development courses.

Use Thoughtful Corporate Gifts to Appreciate Your Employees

Employee recognition is a vital aspect of an ideal work culture. Therefore, your efforts must make every employee valued and appreciated for their hard work. Start planning with Gifted.co to present your workforce with unique employee reward gifts.  

Our platform has the most extensive online catalog of corporate gift products and gift cards. We understand the challenge of picking thoughtful gifts when managing your internal employee recognition program. We will help you curate imaginative gift boxes to recognize your employees within the organization.

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