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Employee Reward Strategies to Motivate your Workforce

Employee rewards and incentives motivate employees and have a positive impact on performance and job satisfaction. See our guide here. 

 

Employee engagement is not only about financial rewards, it's about the intrinsic motivators that drive people at a company. Research shows that employee rewards and incentives to motivate employees have a positive impact on employee performance and job satisfaction (1). Regardless of the company size, most managers would agree that motivated, productive employees are crucial for a company’s success. Providing meaningful incentives and rewards for employees to motivate them is one of the most effective ways to keep a workforce engaged. Read on for our favourite employee reward strategies to motivate your workforce. 

4 Employee Rewards Strategies to Motivate Your Team 

Encourage a healthy work-life balance 

Employee work-life balance can be improved through company well-being initiatives such as gym memberships, wellness discounts, and other programs. Respecting employee work-life balance and not allowing employees to overwork themselves is imperative to maintaining a healthy, motivated workforce. Employees will feel happier, less burnt out and motivated to be productive during their work hours if their non-work hours are respected by their employers (2). 

Give out gifts for great work 

Offering non-financial rewards to motivate employees, such as products that can make their lives easier or save them money, can be just as meaningful as a reward as monetary incentives. Office perks, such as a  NESCAFÉ® coffee machine which can provide quality coffee, are often a good way to reward hard work. Managers can incentivise performance further with fun and meaningful gifts for individuals and teams who reach milestones (1). 

Give financial rewards to motivate employees - monetary bonus 

While offering a monetary bonus is no longer a go-to for many businesses, it is still an effective strategy for ensuring employees remain motivated and productive. Higher productivity in many companies results in higher salaries and bonuses, so financial rewards to motivate employees can be effective. Some employers may also use a profit-sharing plan where if workers achieve certain milestones, their shares increase (2). Other businesses set specific goals, like sales quotas, and employees receive cash bonuses or commissions when targets are reached. These can keep employees focused on goals and motivated to achieve those goals. 

Make recognition awards a priority 

Recognition can be a powerful employee reward strategy for any business, showing employees that their progress and productivity are monitored and celebrated. Not feeling appreciated by a manager for hard work can be demoralising (3) but employee recognition schemes can boost workplace engagement and productivity (2). This type of reward can motivate employees to improve the quality of their work and increase productivity for the chance to be recognised and uplifted in front of their colleagues. Recognition rewards can also come in the form of peer feedback which helps to bring employees together and create a positive company culture where everyone feels supported within their teams (3).  

Keeping your workforce engaged and productive can be difficult to manage, but employing reward strategies may have a positive impact on employee performance and job satisfaction. Incentives and rewards that have meaning to your employees can keep them motivated to produce quality work, efficiently. Financial rewards to motivate employees, like monetary bonuses are always an option which employees appreciate. Non-financial rewards to motivate employees can improve work-life balance, gifts for the home or office, and recognition schemes can also be great tools to keep employees engaged in the workplace, and encourage them to produce even better work in the future.  

Looking for more ways to motivate employees? Check out our 4 Employee Wellbeing Programme Ideas to Boost Morale

Sources: 

  1. https://hbr.org/2017/03/research-how-incentive-pay-affects-employee-engagement-satisfaction-and-trust 
  2. https://www.betterup.com/blog/incentive-for-employees  
  3. https://www.wework.com/ideas/professional-development/management-leadership/seven-ways-to-motivate-your-employees 

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