It’s time to get with the program — the employee rewards and recognition program, that is.
Study after study has shown that employees, now more than ever, want to feel valued for their contributions to their company. You may think that employee appreciation gifts during the holiday season are enough to accomplish that, but not anymore. Your gifting and rewarding efforts should be year-round.
Launching a new employee rewards program from scratch can seem like a daunting task, especially if you have a large workforce. Here are six steps to help you get started.
READ MORE: Download our 2022 Employee Incentives Report from NAPCO Research
Hopefully this step is easy or, even better, unnecessary because the call for implementing employee rewards is coming from the top. Under current economic conditions, though, the C-suite might need a little more convincing to allocate more budget for employee appreciation gifts. Prepare statistics that demonstrate the positive impact that rewards have on performance, as well as the results of any employee feedback surveys that show where gifts could improve satisfaction and engagement. Here are some executive-worthy stats and other tips to help you make your case.
Once you have leadership on board, you have to determine the best structure for your program. You can deliver employee appreciation gifts as instant rewards, or you can create a format that allows team members to accumulate points for different accomplishments and milestones, and then, once they reach a certain threshold, they can redeem the points for rewards. Both have advantages, and your choice will depend on many factors, including your goals for the program and your budget. Check out this additional advice on building a points program.
The next step is to look at what milestones or achievements will be worthy of earning rewards or points. Start with these five universal milestones, and then layer on other opportunities, based on your goals. For instance, check out these links for specific ideas if you’re aiming to:
Other goals that could steer you toward appropriate rewarding opportunities include employee advocacy, retention, and engagement for remote or hybrid teams.
For your employee appreciation gifts to be effective at motivating and engaging your team, they have to be gifts that your employees actually want. According to our recent report with NAPCO Research, people prefer flexible rewards like gift cards and prepaid cards over traditional options such as in-office perks and branded swag. In fact, gift cards are more popular than ever among consumers in general. Here are some more insights into what rewards employees like.
Running an employee rewards program can be a time-consuming endeavor. That’s why it’s important to set your team up for success from the start, when the program launches. By identifying and implementing an appropriate tool to streamline management and delivery of your employee appreciation gifts, you can avoid adding a lot of ongoing administrative duties. Look for a flexible platform that offers an extensive reward catalog and multiple delivery methods, as well as robust reporting and automation capabilities. Also focus on finding a tool that has built-in features to allow setup for multiple teams, such as separate budget groups and user roles. That way, you can empower managers across different departments to distribute gifts on their own, so a single team or person doesn’t have to handle everything. Read more about how a rewards platform fits into your HR tech stack.
With everything decided and set up, it’s time to get the word out about your new employee rewards. Make sure you have clear guidelines about how employees can take advantage of the program. Then, use an omnichannel promotion approach so you reach all your team members and, especially, managers, who will be doing most of the gifting. You should also maintain a steady cadence of communication about the program, even beyond the launch, both to reinforce the message among existing team members and inform new ones. Check out these promotion methods to make sure you have your bases covered.
Now what? Make sure you continue to optimize your employee appreciation gifts! See what questions you should include in your employee surveys to collect feedback on your rewards program and determine whether it’s having a positive effect on team engagement and morale.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
