When an employee receives recognition and reward for their hard work they tend to be more satisfied and engaged with their role, often having more positive attitudes towards the workplace. Reward can come in all shapes and sizes, from financial incentives such as bonuses, to non-monetary reward such as further training or extra days off.
Everyone has different motivations and therefore it is important to provide varied rewards to offer every employee something that gives them good job satisfaction. The key is to find out what motivates people; younger employees are likely to be incentivised by different rewards than older generations. Some may value monetary rewards or those based on personal development, whereas staff members with families may prefer flexible-working opportunities so they can plan work around childcare arrangements.
The most effective outcome of a reward strategy will come from allowing employees to take individual responsibility for the reward they can earn, rather than offering a global organisation-wide bonus, which some might find distant or hard to relate to.
To create a mixture of reward opportunities, there is a range of incentives that can be offered depending on the business and its workforce. For example, bonuses could be awarded to those hitting their targets or providing excellent customer service. Alternatively, non-monetary incentives could focus on personal development or wellbeing, including extra qualifications or subsidised activities outside of work, for example, offering a beauty treatment of their choice for good performance instead of a shopping voucher.
Or it could be that staff members are given the opportunity to work from home or claim back any overtime they have worked in return for extra days off. In today’s fast-paced business world, flexible-working opportunities hold a lot of value, with more and more employees aiming for a healthy balance between their work and home life.
Sara Duxbury is head of people at Fletchers Solicitors