Why are employees rewarded

When recognizing employees, explaining what the recognition is for helps employees relate the recognition to their behavior. This encourages continued strong performance.

The longer it takes for managers to recognize employees, the less likely employees will see the affirmations as authentic. Make employee recognition a priority and have formal recognition systems in place so you can strike while the iron is hot. There is a great deal of research that indicates people are motivated by more than just cold hard cash.

It is also important to note that everyone has their own preference or style when it comes to giving and receiving appreciation. Get a clearer picture of the primary language of appreciation in a work setting of every individual.

Then, recognize them accordingly. Beyond a bonus or a raise, consider customized gifts, taking them out for dinner or other acts that show employees their reward is personalized to them.

Writing handwritten notes, or using the intranet to promote the good behaviors of individuals, can help instill a regular culture of employee recognition. Recognition helps employees see that their company values them and their contributions to the success of their team and the company overall.

This is particularly key when organizations grow or change. It helps employees build a sense of security in their value to the company, motivating them to continue great work. Regularly share news about how the company is striving to reach the mission, and explain how individual employee goals relate to that vision. Here are some examples of how these winning organizations recognize and reward their employees in meaningful ways:.

Global hotel chain Hilton provides managers an annual Recognition Calendar that features no- and low-cost, easy-to-implement ideas for thanking employees. Incorporating a rewards and recognition program helps increase employee engagement, leading to many benefits for the company, like increased productivity and retention. In one survey, employees cited personal recognition as the top way a manager or company could get them to produce great work.

Rewarding great performances and successes with things your employees want will keep them focused and driven to do better. These programs encourage employees to set and reach goals, whether daily, weekly, quarterly, or annually. Offering recognition and rewards for employee performance will boost motivation so workers stay on track and maintain a positive attitude.

These programs encourage collaboration and give employees something to work toward. This helps employees feel seen, heard, and valued, which are all required for satisfaction at work. Appreciated employees are happy employees who want to work hard to help the company grow and succeed. After all, happy employees are usually productive employees, and happy employees contribute to higher morale.

When morale is high, turnover is low, and the business has a greater chance of being successful and hitting revenue targets. Research even indicates that when employees are happy, they are at least 12 percent more productive. What does this have to do with reward? Well, rewards are an important part of keeping employees happy and productive. There is a direct correlation between rewards and employee happiness, with 86 percent of employees saying that they feel happier and prouder when they are recognized at work, and 85 percent saying that they felt more satisfied with their jobs.

A large majority — 70 percent — of workers also noted when they were happy at work, they were happier at home as well. Satisfaction at home is important because it has a significant impact on employees' ability to do their jobs well and avoid issues with presenteeism, or not working to full capacity when they are at work.

Motivated and happy employees also contribute to the bottom line — and the difference is significant. Profitability also increases with employee engagement, with those companies boasting engaged employees seeing almost one-third higher profitability.

Clearly, there is a return on investment that's inherent in keeping employees satisfied with their work. Beyond keeping employees happy, though, which is key to motivation, employee recognition also increases trust in the workplace. Rewarding and recognizing employees creates stronger relationships, which in turn spurs motivation. Another benefit to offering options is that while they could be considered a portion of compensation, current accounting methods do not require businesses to show options as an expense on their books.

This tends to inflate the value of a company. Companies should think carefully about this as a benefit, however. If accounting rules were to become more conservative, corporate earnings could be impacted as a result. As more small businesses use team structures to reach their goals, many entrepreneurs look for ways to reward cooperation between departments and individuals.

Bonuses, profit sharing, and stock options can all be used to reward team and group accomplishments. An entrepreneur can choose to reward individual or group contributions or a combination of the two. Group-based reward systems are based on a measurement of team performance, with individual rewards received on the basis of this performance.

While these systems encourage individual efforts toward common business goals, they also tend to reward under-performing employees along with average and above-average employees. A reward program which recognizes individual achievements in addition to team performance can provide extra incentive for employees.

For small business owners and other managers, a recognition program may appear to be merely extra effort on their part with few tangible returns in terms of employee performance. While most employees certainly appreciate monetary awards for a job well done, many people merely seek recognition of their hard work.

For an entrepreneur with more ingenuity than cash available, this presents an opportunity to motivate employees. Nor will the entrepreneur be far off the mark. As Patricia Odell reported, writing for Promo , "Cash is no longer the ultimate motivator. In order to develop an effective recognition program, a small business owner must be sure to separate the program from the company's system of rewarding employees.

This ensures a focus on recognizing the efforts of employees. To this end, although the recognition may have a monetary value such as a luncheon, gift certificates, or plaques , money itself is not given to recognize performance. Recognition has a timing element: it must occur so that the performance recognized is still fresh in the mind.

If high performance continues, recognition should be frequent but cautiously timed so that it doesn't become automatic. Furthermore, like rewards, the method of recognition needs to be appropriate for the achievement.

This also ensures that those actions which go farthest in supporting corporate goals receive the most attention. However, an entrepreneur should remain flexible in the methods of recognition, as different employees are motivated by different forms of recognition. Finally, employees need to clearly understand the behavior or action being recognized.

A small business owner can ensure this by being specific in what actions will be recognized and then reinforcing this by communicating exactly what an employee did to be recognized. Recognition can take a variety of forms. Structured programs can include regular recognition events such as banquets or breakfasts, employee of the month or year recognition, an annual report or yearbook which features the accomplishments of employees, and department or company recognition boards.

A job well done can also be recognized by providing additional support or empowering the employee in ways such as greater choice of assignments, increased authority, or naming the employee as an internal consultant to other staff. Symbolic recognition such as plaques or coffee mugs with inscriptions can also be effective, provided they reflect sincere appreciation for hard work.

These latter expressions of thanks, however, are far more likely to be received positively if the source is a small business owner with limited financial resources.