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Newsletter December 9, 2010 Reward Your People |
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We all want to feel valued and appreciated and organisations need to achieve their goals. When the two can be brought together something dynamic and exciting is achieved. Over the last two newsletters we have been looking at feedback. Today we are looking at the kind of feedback that rewards and remuneration express. It is well recognised that money on its own is not a big enough incentive to keep talented people in an organisation or make them feel they are valued and appreciated. I was meeting all my targets and doing a good job. Every year I received a bonus, some stock options and a salary increase. Strange though it seems, I walked out of every one of my annual reviews feeling empty. The reward I wanted most was some positive feedback from my boss, or for that matter, any feedback. It would have been good to know that what I did was being noticed and making a difference. I wanted him to say that he really appreciated me and my contribution to the business. I never really felt recognised. That’s why I left the company for another job. Manager, FMCG (Australian Businesswomen’s Network Newsletter) So what we need is motivating feedback to improve performance, positive feedback that affirms and acknowledges performance and rewards that add the “extra” bit. One of the most well-known organisations here in Australia that provides rewards and does it so well is Red Balloon which delivers 1000 amazing experiences a day (and 5000 at Christmas) to employees around the country as gifts from appreciative employers. Naomi Simson, the CEO, says: “We are about creating stories that people will tell others about.” Not only do they tell others about Red Balloon and the experience it provided but they also talk loudly about their company or organisation that provided the experience to them. This generates great employee engagement. Not all organisations have the financial resources to give gifts that cost a lot of money and so we have an article from a reader about small and simple rewards that she gives to her employees. There’s also in this
newsletter information about the latest issue of Expect More for 2011. The 2011 issue will be available next week. There’s also your last opportunity to register at the discounted rate for the inaugural presentation of Networlding here in Australia in February. More about that below also. So enjoy this newsletter!  Maree Harris.PhD.
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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 Employee.
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. You get to retain your talented people and they get to travel. 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 5th 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 or entitlement. 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.
Small Rewards can bring Big Smiles. Suzanne Sherry, a regular reader, is one of the executive team at St. John of God Hospital, Subiaco in Perth, Western Australia. She and her team show gratitude and thanks to their people in a number of ways that act as appreciative and affirming feedback. Her thoughts are presented here:
Expect More From 2011 - Coming Next Week. Watch for it. Those of you who have been part of the People Empowered community for a while will be familiar with the “Expect More from….” Ebooks. Every year Gihan Perera from Perth invites thought leaders to contribute their thoughts on how people can make the new year exciting, dynamic and successful – more than they ever expected it could be. My contribution this year is on networking – Our Network is Our Networth. I’m passionate about networking and believe it is crucial to our professional and career success. It is therefore important to develop the skills to be an effective networker. More importantly, however, is having the right mindset to motivate and inspire our networking.
Networlding Masterclass.
Networlding is the hottest topic globally at the moment - a new way of thinking
about networking - and this Masterclass will be the first for Australia. It is just $198.00 if you register by midnight on December 10th, 2010. That's a $77.00 saving on the full fee. Morning, afternoon tea, and lunch included! Networlding is the proven methodology for building values
based networks I hope you can join Ian and myself on either February 16th or 17th.
Quote for The Day If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. - Thomas Edison. _________________________________________________________________________________ |
