Committed employees are the lifeblood of any business; without the hard work that they put in, any company would struggle. This means it is necessary to recognise their contributions. First and foremost, it helps them understand just how much you appreciate them and creates an incentive for them to continue working well.
This is especially true in the context of the recent coronavirus pandemic. Your workers had to contend with a sharp upheaval in the way they work – if your business was around at the time, then it was undoubtedly their hard work that kept everything going. This makes it more vital than ever to reward their help, and a dedicated employee reward program could be just what you need to achieve this.
1. THE BENEFITS OF AN EMPLOYEE REWARDS PROGRAM
As mentioned above, acknowledging the work of an employee goes a long way toward making them feel like a valuable part of the company. Even simply notifying your worker that they are doing a good job can serve as a way to motivate them – but going beyond this could yield even greater results on this front. A program that rewards your employees directly can help craft a company culture that focuses on positive reinforcement and always strives for self-improvement. On top of this, engaged employees bring more profits.
This can do more than help an employee improve their conduct; it can unite departments that will now want to work closer than ever to deliver the best results. By doing this, you can also better retain employees; workers often leave their roles because they do not feel engaged, so an easy response is to put the effort in to engage them. A unified workplace that encourages its employees can do better – so a rewards program will help to enhance the business and its overall performance.
2. THE POPULARITY OF LOYALTY PROGRAMS IN AUSTRALIA
Even outside the world of work, Australians enjoy loyalty programs. Roughly 88% of Australian consumers are part of at least one such program. However, their report also found that people used these programmes far less during the coronavirus pandemic – a 43% rate compared to 2018’s 53%.
Additionally, customers split their loyalty between behaviour and belief. Behaviour refers to those who simply want a more practical way to buy from their preferred brands, whereas belief relates to emotional connections a buyer has with the brand; this has become a far greater priority for shoppers in recent years. In the context of employee rewards, belief is more of a focus: it is nearly impossible to separate the emotional link to the workplace.
3. WHAT EMPLOYEES LOOK FOR IN REWARD PROGRAMS
Most Australians do enjoy being part of rewards programs. Of course, this is not a one-size-fits-all approach but can provide a good springboard for developing a robust scheme.
No matter the industry, most people seem to prefer prepaid rewards such as prepaid gift cards – and would even appear to choose them overpaid time off. These can take the form of physical or digital gift cards, and though employees slightly prefer physical rewards, you would be missing out if you do not take advantage of digital solutions and their flexibility. For example, you can load digital gift cards into an online wallet for ease of access. To help satisfy everyone with their staff rewards, you should employ a mixture or let them choose themselves.
Regardless of a worker’s age or gender, the above trends were consistent. Demographics did not significantly influence the results, meaning a pre-paid gift card could have success regardless of your company’s makeup. Similarly, this suggests that both older and younger generations cannot agree on the issue of physical or digital – so do not immediately dismiss this as a case of older workers preferring the physical and younger ones preferring the digital.
4. HOW TO KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES ENGAGED
Rewards are a simple way to keep your employee engagement high – they will, in effect, always have a goal in mind. A prepaid card can be a strong incentive no matter the amount, but this must not be your only approach. The best way to keep workers engaged is to better understand them alongside the rewards they prefer. Gift cards can be your grandest corporate incentive, but they must not be the only ones.
Personal recognition boosts productivity and means a lot to your workers, so the individuality of a gift card or any other reward might be instrumental to its success. The way you approach the reward might also be a vital factor to consider – some employees are uncomfortable with public recognition and might prefer to be given a reward in private. Of course, this might suppress the implicit competitive aspect of a rewards scheme, but you can never underestimate the importance of your employee’s comfort to their work ethic.
Timing is another vital aspect of boosting engagement – the slimmer the lag between an employee’s reward and what you are rewarding them for, the more they will feel as though their actions directly contributed to that reward. Bosses must use these incentives quickly so that everyone knows just how much the company values their contributions.
5. HOW TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS STAND OUT
Workplace satisfaction is paramount to the success of any company – and rewarding your employees is a big part of this. These rewards, especially the ever-popular gift cards, can even match your business, its image, and its ethos. Your business can stand out by offering the rewards your workers want, when and how they want them. By doing this, your employee satisfaction and retention will stay high.
True Rewards specialises in custom corporate promotions and has helped Stockland, Unilever, Shell and other companies create exciting programs to boost engagement in employees and customers. If you have any questions or want to find more information about the kinds of services we have available, don’t hesitate to sign up for free or book a demo.
