Written by Lizanne Dsouza- Founder Liz Lyn Careers
Rewarding people for their hard work can be a real morale booster and can go a long way when it comes to retaining good employees and creating an environment that encourages growth.
A reward system is part of the employee benefits or employee engagement program however a lot of HR personnel and business owners shy away from it because they think that it's going to be an expense to the company, however it doesn't always have to be.
You can reward people without using money, and here are some ways you can do this:
Talk to your employees: This is the simplest yet most ignored gesture that one can use to make their employees feel good and accepted. People in management sometimes forget how a small conversation with their team can make their team feel special and recognized on a daily basis.
Trust them with the tasks allocated to them: If you give someone a task to perform, the best reward you can give them is your trust, once an employee feels trusted they will feel more empowered and will want to do a good job as they feel accountable and responsible.
Honest words of appreciation: It's not only enough to appreciate anyone, its more important to honestly appreciate them, when you honestly appreciate someone just for the sake of that, it also creates a sense of achievement which motivates them to do better and feel good about the work that they are doing.
Celebrating small successes: Celebrate small achievements, even if it's as small as a person completing a diet plan that they had trouble following in the past. if you know something that your employee or team member has been struggling with, celebrate that with them when they finally achieve it.
Time off: Ok, yes, time off does equate to money, however, it's still a way around the monetary aspect of rewarding someone, and it really makes someone feel special as we are all sometimes too busy to even ask for time off.
Allowing someone to choose their own responsibilities: If you see that someone has been performing well in their given tasks, don't hold them back, reward them by allowing them to do the things that they like doing at work.
When thinking of a reward system my advice is "do not sweat the small things" if you are looking to cultivate a culture and grow a team without having to micro-manage them, a reward system will help you achieve that quickly in a cost-effective way.
Start now, and reap the benefits of rewarding :)