Insights into Developing a Successful Rewards & Recognition Program

Some companies have and implement a successful Rewards and Recognition program. Others have it, but don’t really feel that it is working for them. Some aspire to have it, but time slips by them and it gets stuck at the drawing board level.

Ask yourself this! Do you want your employees to come in to work with enthusiasm? Are you okay with having them actively looking at other workplaces, and applying for other jobs? If you said ‘Yes’ to the first and ‘No’ to the second, it’s time you adopted a Rewards and Recognition program and did it right too. Because employee engagement, which improves productivity and higher profits, is a key outcome of a committed employee recognition program. This makes it an essential part of any business strategy. If you already have one, and feel that it is not being done right, you may read on to see how it can be fixed. Any day, a rewards & recognition program which enhances employee engagement trumps the alternative; of having to fight the various fires lit by attrition, unfilled posts and poor performance. In fact, the program might actually put the fires completely out, if done right.

Designing a Successful Rewards & Recognition Program

Frankly, there are no fixed rules for developing a Rewards & Recognition program, and every business has unique needs in its design. To succeed, a Rewards and Recognition programs needs a few key ingredients.

Keep it Simple

When initiating a Recognition program, some companies fail to get the criteria for recognition right. Some may fail to convey the message correctly to their employees. The program needs to be clear on the criteria which merit recognition and have simple rules which can be easily followed. People need to know what is expected of them and what behaviours are worthy of recognition and rewards. Decision-makers need to know what they are looking for, and what is worthy of recognition. A simpler way to achieve this would be to establish a 360-degree feedback system for performance appraisals and allow everyone including peers, subordinates and even clients to have a say.

 Keep them informed

Focus on letting everyone know about the program and the rewards of recognition which are expected to follow the desired behaviour or performance. The aim is to let people know of behaviour which merits a reward and to recognize such behaviour when it is manifested. Many companies make an event of it, and conduct a ceremony, usually on an annual basis, to pick the winners and reward them. Scheduling it would depend on your organizational culture and dynamics. You can make it a part of a townhall meeting or a monthly gathering which has everyone attending regularly. Will some rewards be given out monthly, and others quarterly or annually?

 Create a budget: Recognition is not about what is spent. Keep that in mind as you set a budget for the program and decide on what to spend on the rewards. Be prepared to add on some extra rewards which may be suggested by people or awarded on an ad-hoc basis which could take you over the initial budget. Knowing what one wants to spend is very important when running a program to reward people.

 Be strategic

Your criteria for Rewards and Recognition need to be intrinsically related to your organizational goals and strategic imperatives. These rewards do not go to people on work anniversaries or other occasions. They need to be linked to the employee’s superiority in performance and achievement, in furthering the organizational goals better than everyone else at work.

Make it count

Choosing a reward which makes an employee’s day will not be an easy task. Apart from public recognition, offer something more thoughtful than a gift coupon. Try to make it coveted trophy, something unique or special which is offered only to the best performing employee(s). In a very large company, it could be a dinner with the CEO, or a trip to the Head Office. Smaller companies can also come up with great, read attractive and thoughtful, rewards, which wow the committed employee and make them feel completely fabulous and truly valued.

 There are many benefits to implementing a Rewards and Recognition program which increases employee engagement and satisfaction while reducing turnover. It encourages healthy competition among the organization’s employees and makes them focused and motivated even as they strive to achieve greater heights. Valued employees work longer at the same company and try to stay at the top of their game, while doing so, helping the company to move up the growth path.

Wait no more. Act today to adopt an Employee Rewards & Recognition Program and align your employees with the expectations of the organization. Make your employees feel valued and strengthen the motivation, commitment and reap the benefits of employee engagement. Adopt a performance management system based on Objectives and Key Results to streamline the process and to make sure that you are rewarding the right employees.

You can also read the following blog posts to learn more about role of Digitization and effective ideas for Employee R&R program

• Digitize Your Employee Recognition System – Improve Productivity

• 21 Effective Ideas for Employee Rewards and Recognition Program