Employee retention and motivation are significant issues that have become even more important and challenging for many companies today. Recruiting new staff is not only costly, it can also be difficult to find skilled candidates in a competitive market. It makes sense that more employers are pulling out all the stops to retain their existing team members. One important part of both retention and engagement is showing appreciation for your employees’ efforts and contributions. When they feel their employer cares and recognizes their hard work, they are more engaged, which in turn leads to greater productivity and loyalty.
By working to improve employees’ retention and motivation, companies can help their bottom line, reducing staff turnover and the associated recruitment and onboarding costs. It’s expensive to advertise for and train new team members only to have them leave the company within a few months. That is especially the case when your skilled workers then go to work for a competitor. Motivated employees are more likely to remain loyal to the company and stay in their roles longer.
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Recruiting new skilled employees also becomes easier when companies take positive action to improve employee motivation. The company becomes more attractive to work for and will draw the right talent to apply for vacancies.
Taking action to boost employee motivation creates a more positive workplace culture as well, encouraging greater collaboration between colleagues and teams and improving customer relationships. It’s a domino effect that can have big benefits for a company’s overall success.
When it comes to improving employee retention, there isn’t one single approach that will get you the results you want. You have to look at the entire employee experience and create a multifaceted strategy, starting with the onboarding process. Other opportunities for optimization include career development, benefits, feedback and review processes (both for and from the employees), and rewards and recognition.
Showing appreciation for your employees and recognizing their contributions can go a long way in improving motivation and retention. According to Blackhawk Network research, 90% of employees believe that recognition at work is important, and 83% say that receiving rewards makes them more productive and loyal. Reward programs that focus on your teams’ wellness can also be particularly effective. Most U.S. employees say that their employers’ well-being rewards and programs help them be as productive as possible (79%), help them avoid getting sick (79%), and are one of the reasons they stay at their job (75%), according to Statista.
To implement a program for employee recognition and appreciation, start by defining what your goals are — in this case, boosting retention and motivation — and what behaviors you can encourage to achieve those goals. There are countless reward opportunities to consider, including doing a training session, earning a certification, completing a project, achieving a personal quota, and hitting a work milestone or anniversary.
You must also decide what kind of structure you want for your program, whether you will use instant rewards or a points-to-rewards system. Then, choose what the actual rewards will be. Your program can be effective only if the rewards it offers are attractive to your employees — they need to be something people want to work toward. Our 2022 Employee Incentives Report from NAPCO Research shows that employees like flexible rewards like gift cards and prepaid cards better than traditional options such as in-office perks and swag. Gift cards also offer great advantages for you as the employer, since they can be delivered digitally, instantly, and in varying denominations.
Lastly, it’s important to promote your employee rewards program so that your team members and managers know how to use it. The more the program is utilized, the more it helps create a culture of recognition, which promotes higher productivity, morale, engagement, and retention.
By launching your employee rewards program with the right tools, you can minimize the administrative effort it takes to maintain while also empowering managers across the company to take advantage. To optimize the recipient experience, choose a platform that offers a wide selection of reward options, streamlines delivery, and allows for customization and personalization. For the human resources team or program manager, make sure you have enterprise-ready features that allow you to separate user permissions and budget groups, as well as detailed reporting capabilities so you can track the utilization and success of the program.
BHN Rewards is a robust platform for digital rewards management that can help you easily implement and maintain an employee rewards program. It also integrates directly with Microsoft Teams, so you can deliver rewards instantly via chat or during live meetings.
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