Effectiveness of Employee Rewards Programs
Employee rewards programs help motivate employees in the workplace. Companies can provide formal or in-formal rewards to employees. Peers can nominate each other for rewards as well. Employee retention programs also utilize employee rewards. Human Resources professionals typically design employee reward programs for the entire workforce.
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Purpose
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The workplace wants to retain good employees and keep them motivated. Employee reward programs assist in the effort. Good job performance or an act of competence can generate rewards for an employee. They recognize the effort of employees and provide a goal to reach within the workplace. The programs also provide a way for managers to improve the employee's job performance. Compensation rewards focus on pay for performance for individual employees.
Types
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Unofficial rewards provide a way for employees to recognize each other. These rewards do not involve any exchange of money and often consist of a public acknowledgment of good work. Managers can reward their staff with these types of rewards by allowing them to work from home or purchase lunch for the individual employee or the team. Managers paying employees for their performance provides an example of a formal type of employee reward.
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Creating the Program
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When creating a rewards program, first the program designer needs to take an assessment of the workforce and the type of rewards needed. This assessment should also consider organizational objectives for the reward program. Depending on the type of reward program, the designer may need to have a budget. A communication plan will help the program designer to understand the needs of the employees. It can also provide a tool for the program designer when providing updates and status reports to senior management.
Considerations
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Different employees appreciate different forms of recognition and rewards. To design an effective employee rewards program, provide different rewards to employees. The program creator can send a survey to a group of employees requesting ideas on rewards they would like to receive. Some employees will appreciate monetary rewards where another employee would prefer public acknowledgment for their job performance.
Reward Policy
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An employee reward policy outlines guidelines for the different employee groups on how to implement the rewards system throughout the company. The policy should detail the reward types and the appropriate time line for rewarding employees. Compensation reward guidelines include how much compensation the manager can provide to the employee as a reward. The policy identifies the point of contact for the employee reward program and provides a standardized approach throughout the organization.
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References
- Photo Credit Reward image by Ruslan Khabirov from Fotolia.com
