By Anne Miller, Vice President
Often you will hear employees say that they don’t need rewards or recognition at work, just a fair wage. This is SO not true! Everyone loves to be thanked for a job well done whether that is for a great sales order or developing a new product, going that extra mile for a customer or simply helping out their colleagues on a tough project. They do want to be recognized for their extra effort. They do thrive on those extra thanks but unfortunately, the pandemic has caused many employees to shift their work to home, making the possibility of spontaneous recognition more challenging!
That doesn’t mean we should stop doing it – as leaders, it means we just need to get more creative. I think we all know that when an employee feels valued, they are happier and less likely to leave their organization. The cost of turnover is high. Replacing an employee can cost 33% of their annual salary. That’s expensive not to mention the broken customer relationships that can take years to repair – if you are even able to!
A 2022 report by Workhuman and Gallop (Transforming Workplaces Through Recognition) found that recognition goes a long way to enhancing employee engagement, organizational culture, and employee retention. When recognition is consistent within an organization and resonates with employees, the report found employees were:
- Five times as likely to see a path to grow in the organization
- 44% more likely to be thriving in their life overall
- 73% less likely to feel burned out
- Four times as likely to be actively engaged at work
- Five times as likely to feel connected to their workplace culture
When recognition from leaders or peers is lacking, the results showed that employees were likely to be disengaged, not see a future within the organization, and had a higher likelihood to be struggling in their work life.
Recognizing your sales representatives is arguably an easier thing to do than recognizing non-quota-bearing employees. However, at the end of the day, everyone loves to feel appreciated for work well done! So here are a few ideas, bearing in mind these guiding principles:
- The reward should be something the employee would like, and it doesn’t have to be expensive
- Rewards should be timely and occur often
- The presentation of the reward should be visible
- All rewards are not the same but should be equitable
- Rewards should be genuine and recognition needs to be incorporated into everyday work life to be meaningful
- Rewards can be for a team of employees or individual employee
Some ideas to consider:
- Kudos boards on employee intranet sites and praise in all-hands/department meetings or on social media posts
- Vouchers/gift cards (restaurants, bookstores, clothing, health and wellness, etc.)
- Thank you notes sent with flowers
- Tickets to sporting events, concerts, art exhibits, cinema, theatre, etc.
- Pick a theme! Anything from art, silverware, home goods, statement pens, jewellery, cooking/kitchen items, food gifts, etc.
- Celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and personal milestones
- Implement an employee appreciation day and/or events with activities, swag, team building, office outings, holiday parties, etc.
- Provide professional development opportunities, bonus time off, or wellness programs
- Create awards to celebrate successes and achievements (years of service, customer service, sales, employee of the month, department MVPs, etc.)
Rewarding and recognizing employees can contribute greatly to enhancing an organization’s culture and motivating its workforce, encouraging engagement, and boosting performance. It will not only contribute to employee retention but to attracting potential new hires to the team. Reward and recognition need to be top of mind and consciously implemented.