5 tips to create an employee reward strategy  beyond flashy perks

Good salaries attract employees, but they don’t guarantee that your company will have a unified and productive workforce. Although everyone wants to receive a good paycheck, only a few people will strive to achieve great things for their employer without other stimulating factors. 

When you have good management practices and perks that aren’t in our traditional employee “reward” strategy, you can engage your people  in ways that encourage them to work efficiently in support of your business goals.

Take a look at the following five tips that will help you keep your employees happy and productive at all times.

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1. Don’t overload employees

Payroll costs usually comprise a substantial part of a business’ budget, so you naturally want to accomplish as much as possible during the workday. However, don’t let your zest for profitability cause you to overload your workers with unrealistic workloads because you will discourage them and make them seek employment elsewhere.

You’ll probably notice that overloading someone seems most tempting when you have one or more exceptional employees who get more work done than their teammates. Don’t “reward” good performance with more work. Doing so will only make your best employees underperform, drain morale from your organization, and stimulate employee turnover.

Instead, give your employees enough room to breathe. Assign reasonable workloads that include tasks they can accomplish in a realistic time frame. When your employees get a sense of accomplishment, they will also feel more satisfied and loyal to you.

2. Employ a system of employee benefits and rewards

Don’t take good work for granted. Show your workers that you appreciate their performance by crafting a package of rewards and benefits that incentivize them to stay with your company. Your budget will determine what benefits you offer, but you can start with inexpensive extras such as disability insurance or discount gym memberships. You can also offer everyone a standard amount of vacation and personal days.

Create a reward system with tangible and achievable perks to make sure your workers know you appreciate them. When people do exceptional work, give them bonus pay or time-off rather than increasing their workload. If your business doesn’t have much to give away, try acknowledging a job well done, so everyone knows you don’t take good performance for granted.

As you develop your benefit and reward system, consider offering additional incentives such as free lunches, amazon coupons or other gift certificates. As long as your employees experience the benefits, they will naturally increase the effort they dedicate to their job.

3. Educate your employees

Don’t let your staff feel like they occupy a dead-end job – give them opportunities for personal and professional development. When you invest in your teams training, you benefit by having employees with broader and deeper skillets who feel more satisfied than their counterparts in other firms. Furthermore, you can motivate your workforce by providing educational opportunities that prepare them for advancement within your company.

Educational technologies and online learning platforms are an easy and affordable way to supply your team with the knowledge they need to thrive. The Internet provides many cheap and efficient opportunities for employee education, so don’t hesitate to explore them. Trade conferences and seminars are by no means the only way to help them develop connections with industry influencers and learn more about the market trends that affect them.

You can do many different things, so get creative and ask your team what types of training and education they want and then do your best to provide them. Their productivity will blossom.

4. Promote transparency and participation

If you want to keep your employees productive, you need to make them feel they are part of the team  and give them a sense of purpose. Therefore, you should always clearly communicate your company’s goals and let them know your vision for the future. When you include your employees in your game plan, you build a shared sense of identity. As a result of such transparency, your employees will increase their participation level and feel valuable and proud.

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Furthermore, you should ask your employees for feedback about different aspects of business and incorporate their opinions into your strategic and tactical objectives. Not only will you thus encourage employee participation, but your will also do much more for the entire company. As employees have different perspectives that can help you solve problems, make decisions, and design better workflows, your entire company can benefit from their valuable pieces of insight.

5. Create a friendly atmosphere

Keep in mind that you have direct control over your company culture. Don’t stay away from your employees because distance breeds discomfort and a lack of trust. Instead, engage your employees on a personal level by befriending them and showing a genuine interest in their well-being. Recognize the staff members who make personal or professional achievements and congratulate them. Acknowledge birthdays and give them the support they deserve when going through times of grief or change.

However, don’t let your effort in building a friendly atmosphere cause you to lose your professionalism. For example, don’t snoop into personal details and don’t become so chummy that your workers stop respecting you as their boss. Always find the right measure.

What you can also do to promote a friendly atmosphere is sponsor special team building events and fun parties that knit your team together. It will produce synergies that give your firm a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Unleashing your reward and benefits strategy

Even exceptional employees have difficulty staying productive without a deliberate effort on your part to keep them engaged. Therefore, you should always make sure that your employees are satisfied. By following the above tips, you will do exactly that – create a team of happy and productive workers who are willing to put in extra effort. In the end, your entire company will reap benefits.