How to implement Employee Reward and Recognition Program in organisations?

Nowadays, every organisation has an employee reward and recognition platform, and this is one of the best things that can be done to achieve more success and a better environment at the workplace. In many searches, it is found that the results of employee reward and recognition have amazing effects like reinforcing positive behaviour, boosting morale, increasing productivity, and reducing employee turnover. Programs like these are especially beneficial for the employees’ mental health as they feel more appreciated and valued, and are very helpful in motivating them to perform better, which results in more happiness and increased productivity. When we talk about the numbers, almost 83% of HR professionals and employers agree that employee recognition benefits the company.

However, it is never an easy task to implement the employee reward and recognition program in the company as it requires a lot of studies, and below are some of the points that are to be kept in mind while developing employee reward and recognition in a team:

• Employers and the HR team should regularly conduct surveys to get a clear idea of how their employees are feeling about working with them.
• Proper criteria must be developed for rewarding the employees of the company, and this might include company policies like PIP, KRAs, HRAs, and many other parameters depending on the employee’s position and work.
• Employees should be made aware of the program so that they put in more effort and stay motivated for their work.
• The team leaders and the HR team should try to track the employees’ performance regularly, and they should also update the employees about their performance regularly so that they can put up extra effort to achieve the targets.

There are many ways that employers can use to reward their employees, which can include paid vacations, cash rewards, promotions, and many more. Some rewards without money might include special announcements at work like a party, a job promotion, time off, and many more.

Employee reward ideas may include monetary rewards, non-monetary rewards, personalized gifts, creative awards, team events, and many more.

Employee recognition ideas may include birthday celebrations, social recognition on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, and many more.

The companies can recognize their employees for their quality of work, adaptability, improvement, personal growth, willingness to learn, performance, leadership, problem-solving, and company success.

Implementing Employee Reward and Recognition Program

Below are the points that can be used to develop a good employee reward and recognition program:

1. Clarify Vision: Before implementing any employee reward and recognition program, the employer should always conduct a study to understand the goal that is to be set for the employees, the cost that might be incurred, and the benefits that will come.

Once the employee has decided to develop the employee reward and recognition program, they must conduct a study of the goal of the company so that they can identify what they are expecting from their employees and set a proper path to achieve success.

Employee reward and recognition is a program that makes employees feel appreciated and valued. Healthy company culture is one of the key components for an employee’s and the company’s success. The most common benefits that will be there as an outcome result in creating a positive work environment, improving employee retention, and most importantly, increasing productivity. One of the main parts of implementing employee reward and recognition is the cost that might be incurred during the process, and a budget should always be decided for effective recognition software and monetary rewards.

2. Build a team of qualified people: To develop an employee reward and retention program, a proper team must be formed that can assist the employer in the development of the employee reward and recognition program. The team member must have good knowledge about the parameters that are used to evaluate the employee’s performance, have an interest in the programs, believe in company values, and have leadership qualities.

3. Outline policies: The policies governing the employee reward and recognition program should be outlined, as this will be helpful for the employees to understand the hows and whens of the program. Employees should be made aware of the program, and how their points can correspond to the stages of the employee reward and recognition program. The management should also review these policies regularly so that possible changes can be made to achieve better results. The management should make the employees aware of the program criteria and how they will be eligible for the reward.

4. Set parameters for measuring results: One of the most important things to managing the workforce is setting up the criteria for getting rewarded and recognized that should be easy, attainable and convenient for the workforce, and it can vary depending on the work type and role which can make it more meaningful.

5. Employee feedback: Employees must fill out the employee feedback forms so that they can give the employer an idea of their satisfaction and happiness at the workplace. This is also helpful in making changes to the reward and recognition policies as per the employee’s designation and in managing the work tasks.

Benefits of Employee Reward and Recognition Program

• The program helps manage the employees, motivating them, making the work environment positive, and boosting teamwork and productivity.
• It helps improve the workplace culture, and it also helps in retaining top talents and reducing staff turnover.
• Employees always spend a lot of time at work, and when not rewarded and recognized, they might sometimes get the feeling of being taken for granted. So employee reward and recognition programs will make them valued and recognised.
• Employee reward and recognition programs are a great idea that every company should try to include to make their company grow, and this can be easily done with a tool that can track all the work-related details of the employees and the company’s progress. There are many software tools that companies can use for reward and recognition, including Perkbox, Blueboard, Bonusly, Gifted, and many more. 
• Companies should always have a reward and recognition program in place if there is a culture of recognizing their employees for their hard work or if there is a higher workload on their employees.
• Receiving recognition from coworkers and team members also creates a sense of belonging to the team. It’s also important for managers and team leaders to praise their teams so that they will always try to perform better and give what is expected of them.