04 Jun 2021

Five key benefits of giving rewards to your employees

When we're talking to prospective clients, we are often asked about the key benefits of having a reward programme for employees. It's not that HR professionals do not instinctively know that it is a good thing for a company to do; it's just that sometimes it's hard to identify the key benefits. That's why in this article we have set out what we believe of the five main benefits to a business of giving rewards to your employees.

1) They drive motivation

Arguably the most important benefit of implementing a reward programme is that it drives employee motivation. Rewards can come in many different forms, but if they are given for the right reason, they are recognition by the company for hard work and going above and beyond what is expected. If these rewards are valuable to the person receiving them, they can inspire and motivate that employee and their peers to work harder in the future.

In addition, as mentioned if the reward well thought out, it could add an extra special spring to an individual’s step. Conversely, if the reward does not meet expectations, then it can have the reverse impact. Michael Rose from Reward Consulting often uses the example of a senior manager at a financial organisation on £150K pa basic. If he/she received a reward gift voucher of £50 as a reward, given their salary, they would be unlikely to be too impressed. However, if they received a £50 bottle of wine with a handwritten note from their boss, it could have a far more positive impact. Rewards, drive motivation, but it is also about the way they are given and the thought that goes into them.

2) They enforce a positive culture

In recent years, we've been seeing the rise in the importance of company culture. As we implement more and more reward and recognition schemes, a reoccurring objective of these schemes is to enforce a certain behaviour. If a business can create a set of clear parameters for how and what it gives rewards for to its employees and it has a focus on culture and behaviour, then rewards can be a highly effective tool. For example, one company that we work with only offers rewards to its employees for demonstrating positive behaviour that reflects the company culture. The upside of this is that rewards can enforce a positive culture but also demonstrate the businesses is serious and committed to the culture it wants to create.

3) They don’t have to cost the business

Companies are becoming far more innovative in the way they reward their employees. This is great as it not only sets this business aside from its competition, but it also allows the business to be far more flexible with its employees. Some great examples of this are rewarding employees with extra vacation days, or a company car and parking at the office for a month or the ability to shadow the CEO for a week.

The big brands have certainly cottoned on to this. KMPG is amongst companies offering an extra day off on people’s birthdays (and some for their employees’ child’s first day at school).Others doing the same include Shoosmiths, Virgin Media, Rackspace, Kantar, Go Compare, Dunelm and Awin. Other companies – such as Deloitte, PayPal, Vistaprint, Adobe Systems, Intel and Charles Schwab – are offering sabbaticals as milestone rewards. Meanwhile organisations such as John Lewis, Penguin Random House, SurveyMonkey, and Tesco offer two-weeks' extra holiday when staff reach 40 and 50 years of age. All these rewards do not cost the business directly but have a huge positive impact on the person receiving them.

4) They are a point of differentiation

One of the key objectives for HR and internal recruitment teams is to reduce churn of employees and therefore the cost of acquiring new talent. A great way to do this is to differentiate the business in a way that sets it aside from its competitors. Many businesses are already doing this and the Silicon Valley Giants are certainly leading the way. For example, Google offers its staff free Michelin star standard food and Barista training. Facebook and others have their own set of unique rewards for their staff. They do this not to be “cool” (although it is a little!) They mainly do this as they have realised how competitive the market is to attract and keep the best talent.

5) They feel good

Not all businesses are about the bottom line. In fact, with the rise of the millennial and the recent impact of Covid-19, companies seem to have developed a sense of responsibility to their employees. And with this comes the phenomena that is new to many business leaders – it feels good to do nice things for other people.

This sense of feeling good is best summed by Terry Matthews, one of the UKs most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs. When asked what his biggest achievement in his career was, he responded: “Ensuring the future financial security of some many of the amazing people I have worked with”. Yes, he is talking about money, but the fact that he put such a focus on rewarding those around him, made others want to work for and with him.

Having a culture of reward at your business can have several benefits on the business. But the key element is that you have a reward (& recognition) scheme that is tailored to your employees; is authentic; and is part of the DNA of the business you want to run and work for.

This article is provided by Xexec