Why does reward and recognition matter?

Reward and recognition – why is it important?

It's a simple human need to want to feel valued and appreciated. And one of the main ways that people can fulfill this need is through their work. 

When an employee receives recognition and appreciation, it motivates them to work harder and as a result, the companies productivity levels increase. 

It’s not about giving accolades every other hour. It’s simply acknowledging an individual or team’s behaviour, effort and achievements in the workplace that support your organisation’s goals and values.

The word ‘reward’ doesn’t really have any negative connotations, does it? That’s because anything that is rewarding is generally a pretty great thing!

In basics, employee reward and recognition is important because:

• It lets employees know that they’re doing their job correctly
• Improves staff morale
• Enhances loyalty to the company
• Reduces staff turnover rates
• Contributes to a supportive work environment

The three Rs: Recognise, Reward and Retain

Staff positivity, turnover, and good business results are heavily influenced by employee recognition. By having an employee recognition programme, you can clarify how recognition should be given, what kind of work should be recognised. As well as giving your staff something to work towards.

In basics, a good employee recognition programme should follow a three-step principal. Your three steps to workplace appraisal are: Recognise, Reward, and Retain.

These three trusty Rs are essential to an outstanding workplace and workforce. You may have noticed that more and more companies seem to be taking this whole R business seriously. That’s because there are some very compelling reasons to focus your attention on employee recognition.

Why should you give your employees recognition?

1. It boosts workplace culture

When you recognise and reward your staff, you boost morale. Further, when you recognise and reward your employees in line with your company values, you help to boost workplace culture. 

Aside from that, don’t forget about the impact of rewards and recognition on customers too. Your clients can sense positive vibes: workplace/workforce happiness will infiltrate customer relationships too, leading to happy, loyal customers who want to keep doing business with you.

2. You will see increased productivity 

When you recognise a job well done, the chances of the job being done to same standard again are increased. This leads to greater productivity overall, as you are reinforcing positive behaviour. Further, when you combine recognition with how that work fits into the bigger picture and overall goals of the company – your employees feel good about what they do and see how they are an important part of the plan.

Overall, recognising good work on a frequent basis can change the productivity of the business as a whole. This will drive your company in the right direction and get you closer to those all-important goals.

3. You will have happier employees 

No one likes to work hard only to then feel that their efforts have gone unnoticed. With an employee recognition and reward scheme, employees regularly receive a boost, whether this is a simple recognition or a reward. When your employees are happier, they are more motivated and engaged in their work.   

Not only can this happiness improve life at work but it can also seep into overall wellbeing.

4. You will boost and maintains staff retention

By recognising and rewarding your employees, you can help to retain your current staff and save on recruitment costs. 

Lots of money, time and energy go into the recruitment process but employees who feel they have a positive personal rapport with their management are less likely to suffer from disengagement or feeling undervalued, which can lead to staff turnover. Employee recognition is therefore constructive, adding value to employees and their work.

What’s more, employee reward schemes are also constructive because it means you are not just retaining more employees, but more experienced employees. The longer your employees remain in your business, the more experienced they will be in their sector and thus able to promote your brand. Getting your three Rs right increases the number of experts you have on hand.

Following on from that, keeping your staff around contributes to your companies loyalty standards. It goes without saying that longstanding members of staff are more loyal than newbies, proven by the fact they’re longstanding! It’s also reassuring for new members of staff to see that people actually want to stick around too.

5. Teamwork will be positively impacted

With Perkbox Celebration hub, everyone in the team can recognise each other. Recognition from peers can be more powerful than recognition from managers to help to build teams and boost feelings of team support and morale. Our employee recognition scheme lets everyone send shout-outs, which encourages a true culture of recognition and ensures that no one feels left out. 

The best way to give reward and recognition? Through a dedicated platform

Although there are different ways that you can recognise your employees, such as during in one-to-ones or sending a thank you email, we believe that the most effective way is through a rewards and recognition platform. As this allows you to shout out great work to the whole company through a company-wide feed and really make sure everyone sees the great work your teams are doing. 

Celebration hub allows you to recognise the staff that are producing quality work. If you want to add a little extra, reward your staff with Reward points which they can use on a reward of their choice in our Reward catalogue. From cinema tickets to digital vouchers, there's truly something for everyone.

So, there aren’t really any cons to not saluting your staff heroes. The most difficult part for managers setting up a recognition platform – but we’ve got you covered. There are plenty of easy-to-use reward and recognition platforms to help you identify and celebrate your outstanding employees.

Further, for some extra recognition, you can set challenges and send rewards by creating polls. Polls are a fab way to promote a bit of friendly competition, while also drawing attention to the effort your employees are putting in. You can organise polls to endorse specific contributions – these could be based on teamwork, for instance, encouraging more collaborative work in the office. With your polls, you can put staff members into groups and give them a deadline to hit their target.

Likewise, your rewards platform can be used to shine a spotlight on the winning teams, or individuals, who go that extra mile to achieve exceptional results.

This can all be organised through an app! On your phone, laptop or any other portable device. With the app, you can name the names of outstanding individuals, or even whole departments, and post them each day, week or month for all the company to see.

Derek, for example, might pop up for having gone beyond his ‘Call of Duty’, or the Tech Department might be rewarded for solving the Wi-fi crisis – God save the Tech Department.

So, having a recognition platform like the one provided by Perkbox really does make maintaining employee happiness easy.

With your platform sorted, the only thinking you need to do is figuring out what you actually want to reward your staff for! Here are a few things to think about when rewarding your staff and recognising their hard work.

6 things to think about when setting up a reward and recognition scheme

1. Establish criteria for what constitutes rewardable behaviour or actions

Recognition is not a one-size-fits-all agenda. You need to consider what is worth appreciating and this should be a common and consistent practice.

Recognising and rewarding the hard work of staff should be an integrated, daily aspect of the workplace, but make sure you are recognising where someone is going above and beyond their daily role. 

When you're starting out and introducing the scheme to your employees, it can be really useful to use examples. Give real-life examples of where members of staff from your company have done something extra to show how you would like it to be done. 

Also, if one of your team members doesn't work with as many people, or you notice that they may not have received recognition in a while – take a closer look at their work to see if there's a way you can give them a little boost with recognition. 

Further, from a manager perspective – keep it varied, and make sure you’re familiar with all your staff – you don’t want to be accused of favouritism.

2. Don’t be gratuitous

If you compliment your staff on every single thing they do, your praise will deplete in meaning and become slightly redundant.  

It’s fine to let Sandra know she makes a fine cup of tea, but recognition means more when it stems from something you really value. Make sure that you praise your staff enough that it’s doing their work justice, but not so much that your compliments seem hollow.

3. Have something to work for

Of course, it’s terribly satisfying to tick every box on your task sheet, and yes, it looks so pretty when your excel doc is finally all colourfully highlighted. But, it’s not really enough to keep you going for years on end, is it?

Give your staff something to work for. Depending on what kind of goals you have in place, as well as the scale of your company, rewards will differ in scope. It might be a bonus in their pay package or a promotion! But it could also be something more humble, like a bottle of bubbly, a spa treatment or maybe some meal vouchers.

Any kind of gift, be that a professional step-up or an indulgent day out will help to incentivise your workforce to work hard. Rewards will affect your employees’ work ethic and behaviour for the better, helping you to achieve your organisation’s goals.

A good idea is to actually ask your staff what they want. Be realistic – you can’t give everyone a five digit pay rise at the end of the month. But, you might be able to organise a staff activity or party for them!

 
4. Set challenges

Added heat can motivate employees and up their workplace stamina a little bit. While getting through your general job spec is primordial, there’s nothing like a little healthy competition to get the blood pumping in the workplace.

Set little challenges that will have your staff go above and beyond their usual day-to-day routine. This is a great way to encourage your staff to get out of their comfort zone and experiment with more innovative approaches to their job.

Think outside the box. Your challenge might be client orientated, for instance, it could be: Who can beat their personal best for how many clients they sign up this month? The winner gets a bonus.

Alternatively, your challenge could be review based. Which consultant can get the most positive reviews? The winner will be wined and dined next Friday at a restaurant of their choice.

5. Give recognition in line with your company values

You can really reinforce your company values and help your company to grow in the way that you want it to when you use recognition to reinforce your company values. If 'enthuasiasm' or 'creativity' are important to you and your organisation, then give your recognition in line with these to ensure your organisation carries on moving in the right direction.

Read next: How to build company values to shape your culture

6. Finally, find a way to celebrate the achievements!

Of course, think about how best you can celebrate these recognitions. At Perkbox, we like to hold weekly meetings in our teams to read out the recognitions that have been given that week and celebrate them! You should celebrate every success that you can, it will keep employees happy and give them a little boost in the week to see their whole team supporting and celebrating them. 

It's a win-win situation! 

However you choose to reward your staff, the point is, you shouldn’t overlook their hard work. Employees who feel appreciated are more likely to hang around rather than taking a hike to another corporation. They’re also far more productive and motivated and will make more of an effort to go above and beyond their typical job expectations.