Feel The Difference When You Reward Your People Six Keys to Remember.

Know Your People and Make Sure the Reward is Appropriate.

• Know what is important to them, what motivates them and what they value so you can reward them accordingly.

• Keep your eyes and ears open and when you hear staff talking about their likes and dislikes and their interests, jot it down.

• Someone who loves sport could get tickets to a game.

• Someone who is a keen gardener gets plants. Someone who loves theatre gets theatre tickets.

• You notice someone who always has lovely cards on her desk…..say thank you with a beautiful card. Someone who has family photos on a pin up board, buy them a nice frame to put them in.

• The greatest reward for the working mother may be flexible work arrangements. Make it a tangible gift by having some attractive vouchers drawn up that can be handed out. What about some attractive gold or silver envelopes? Tied with a bow? The extra effort you go to will be appreciated and noticed.

• The 65 year old who has worked as a janitor in the organisation since he was 20 years old, however, may really value on retirement a gold watch that is inscribed. He may also like to be taken to dinner...with his family?

We’ve all heard the stories about the wine for the person who doesn’t drink and the ham at Christmas for the vegetarian. Don’t let that happen. The damage that does is major.

 

Reward the Family as Well as The Person.

Many employees, especially those at leadership and management level are only able to be high performers making significant contributions to the organisation because of the back-up they get from home. They have supportive (or very tolerant) partners and understanding children. Increasing numbers of organisations are recognising that they need to let families know they value their contribution also.

• Bob Gartland of Gartland Real Estate in Geelong sends a hamper to the house of his staff member to say thank you to them. He does this the day before he does his performance appraisal with that staff member.

• Organise family days – barbecue and drinks provided.

• When you want staff to stay away overnight for a staff training program, arrange for a take away meal to be sent to their house that night so their partner doesn’t have to cook.

• Do Something Different and Unexpected. Surprise is a Reward as Well.

• When Bernadette Uzelac was CEO of recruitment company, People at Work, she sent a balloon weighted down with chocolates to every person they recruited on their first day at their new workplace. She noted that often organisations don’t really acknowledge appropriately new staff members on their first day. She made their day important for them.

• Recently Clive Palmer, the Australian mining magnate, gave very expensive gifts to his top performing staff after they made him hundreds of millions of dollars in profit in the last 12 months. What was interesting was that many of these gifts were given to those working right at the bottom of his corporate pile, not to the high-flyers with the already existing high salaries. Dozens of these grass root people, so essential to the smooth functioning of businesses, but whose contribution is often overlooked, were given new cars.

Reward in Real Time.

• If you want people to work late or long to meet a deadline, or to complete a project before Christmas, make them feel valued for doing it.

• Order food to keep them going through the job.

• Arrange for the local coffee shop to bring coffees at a certain time. Carry them around and serve your people yourself and say thanks in the process.

• Provide drinks afterwards before they go home.

 

 

Reward With Career Breaks.

This is especially relevant for Generation Y who may want to travel. It is also a great win/win solution for organisations and their talented people. Two ideas heard about recently were:

• People who worked 3 years full time were given a year off without pay and their job there for them upon their return.

• People have 4 years salary spread over 5 years with the 5^th year off on salary. Their job there upon their return.

Don’t Forget Money as Reward but……..

It’s the way money is given that determines whether it is seen as a reward or not. When it comes added into the pay packet, it is most often seen as compensation. If it comes as a separate cheque that’s very meaningful, especially if there is a note attached specifically acknowledging why it is being given. It assumes even greater meaning if the note is handwritten, or at least hand signed.