3 ways reward can make people feel included and recognised
Recognition is vital for achieving a thriving organisational culture in which employees are highly engaged, consistently deliver great work and advocate for the organisation. However, recognition must be delivered in the right way, and if a “thank you” never has a tangible reward attached to it, it’ll soon be viewed as hollow and meaningless. So, how can you effectively link recognition with reward, so employees feel appreciated and a powerful sense of belonging?
Make the reward a good fit
Firstly, any reward provided must be of equal value to the behaviour, effort or accomplishment being recognised. For instance, a top performer is unlikely to be satisfied with a branded “thank you” pen and an expensive gift is probably unnecessary when appreciating good teamwork.
When a company gets it wrong the impacts can be highly damaging. Consider the global beauty business, which was recently criticised for giving every employee a cookie for reaching $10 million in revenue. Apparently, some employees were angered that after working hard to reach a key financial milestone, they only received “a stale cookie and a thank you letter”.
When a reward is regarded as wholly inadequate, it will totally undermine the recognition moment rather than elevate it, leading to a disengaged and disgruntled workforce. The best recognition schemes will always ensure that the reward matches the employee's level of contribution, with a broad range of rewards available, from a branded item or gift card through to an experience.
Allow everyone to give recognition and rewards
Secondly, everyone in the organisation must be provided with the tools and ability to reward a colleague alongside giving them recognition. This includes those employees who are deskless or away from the office and so are often forgotten. The most effective way to achieve this is through a recognition system in which all colleagues and managers can quickly and easily provide gift points with their “thank you”. Employees can then use their accumulative points to purchase a gift of their choice from an online catalogue.
Use symbolics
Finally, to truly elevate an important career moment, such as when employees are celebrating a career anniversary or delivered particularly notable results, symbolic awards should be used to make it especially memorable and meaningful. A symbolic award presented during a recognition ceremony is a highly effective way to make the occasion special. O.C. Tanner’s own research found that employees who receive recognition with a symbolic award are three times more likely to remember the occasion.
The best symbolic awards are thoughtfully created tokens that typically reflect moments of the organisation’s history, culture or achievements. And although they don’t need to be pricey or elaborate, they must be meaningful personal tokens that the recipient can feel a special connection to.
Elevating the moment
Every recognition programme should incorporate rewards to maximise its chance of success. Consideration must, however, be given to the type of rewards, who in the organisation is able to give them, and the use of symbolic awards for elevating recognition moments. When done right, linking rewards to appreciation can be transformational. It can inspire every single employee to deliver their best work while ensuring they feel included and valued, regardless of where and how they work.
In partnership with O. C. Tanner
Giving teams the integrated tools they need when, where and how they need them.
