The Complete Guide to Employee Reward and Recognition Schemes

Why do you need employee recognition schemes?

We briefly touched on it earlier, but the primary need for an employee reward scheme is to demonstrate your appreciation for your employees. Not only do effective rewards demonstrate mutual respect between employer and employee, but they also amplify trust, dedication and general job satisfaction.

From a senior management perspective, these boosts to employee mindset result in significant benefits for the business as a whole, including:

Staff retention

Rewarding your team for performing well helps staff to enjoy their time at work and feel appreciated. Staff who know their worth and feel wanted are much more likely to stay with your company - it’s as simple as that.

Recruitment ease

When trying to recruit talent, finding the perfect candidate can feel challenging, so when you do find them, you want to keep them. The truth is, if you’ve noticed someone’s talent, then other companies will, too; you need to ensure your offer is the one that the candidate takes. To this end, an inclusive and attractive reward scheme (on top of a competitive salary) is essential to ensure that they sign on the dotted line.

Productivity

Happiness and positivity breed a healthy working environment and, in turn, drastically improve productivity. Creating a platform where staff feel appreciated and recognised for the work they do encourages better performance and greater focus - it’s an incentive for performing well.

In summary, an effective employee reward scheme will boost satisfaction and increase work efficiency and ease of hiring while simultaneously decreasing staff turnover. With this knowledge, it’s clear why you would want a good reward structure in your business, but how do you make one? More importantly, how do you make sure it’s going to be effective?

How to create a bespoke employee reward scheme for your business

Establishing a reward scheme that is tailored to your business isn’t easy. We see many different systems and approaches to employee rewards, varying greatly in both style and effectiveness based on the company sector, size and culture. However, there are a few aspects to consider that will help make your approach work better.

Multiple reward systems

Don’t select a single reward method and hope that it will work well for everyone. This is primarily because different methods appeal to different people, particularly at a generational level. It also limits opportunities for employees to achieve and be recognised. Use multiple reward strategies to create extra levels of recognition and achievement, giving your staff a reason to reach their full potential.

Design advice

Another important aspect of creating a competitive employee reward scheme is to understand what other reward schemes for employees look like in your industry. This is especially important for attracting staff and ensuring the best talent joins you instead of other businesses in your sector.

It’s very difficult to legally compile effective reward data from other companies, which is why most businesses take advantage of reward scheme design services to help them, like those we offer here at Paydata.

Given the vast array of options available to employers, designing a focused reward scheme tailored to your requirements is a challenge. Fortunately, having spent more than 20 years analysing and designing pay and reward structures, the advice we offer is based on detailed understanding and decades of practice.

Employee reward scheme ideas

Don’t underestimate the power of simple, easy-to-implement reward methods, which can be used to complement a more structured reward scheme.

Thank you!

Whilst this isn’t part of an organised reward system, it’s still invaluable. A simple thank you can mean the world to a dedicated employee and creates a sense of respect that many large organisations lack. Never be afraid to thank your hard workers for doing a good job. Furthermore, a thank you serves as an instant reward, and by nature, humans love instant recognition.

Celebrating success via email

Company-wide email newsletters are great for highlighting successes in different teams. These are especially valuable for connecting departments that aren’t usually aware of what the other does, producing a sense of community within the business. The best successes to highlight in these newsletters are individuals or teams that have benefitted the business as a whole, particularly if they have assisted in fulfilling the company’s mission statement or epitomised a core company value. This will encourage others to do the same, building a tangible ethos for your business.

Employee of the month

The employee of the month is a classic approach that works, particularly if the employee of the month is voted for by other employees. Not only does this create a sense of respect between employees, but it enables a structured presentation in front of other members of the team. Presenting a positive reward in front of the workforce is a great way of emphasising achievement and good work whilst simultaneously increasing the reward’s value, as achievers know that their colleagues will be aware of their success.

Awards

Whether you host a dedicated awards evening at the end of each year or make them bi-annual events, awards based on employee votes are a fun way of giving individuals recognition for their work. Again, acknowledgement from management is one thing, but recognition from colleagues is another entirely. Employees who receive both are the happiest and most productive.

Long service

Long-service awards reward loyalty to the business and show an appreciation for employees’ dedication. These rewards don’t even need to be expensive. A simple meal out is unique and requires little effort from senior managers, which is appreciated by a long-standing member of the company.