Employee Rewards Programs: A Recipe For Better Workplaces?

There’s been a great deal written about creating a positive work environment. You’ve probably read it. Our insight here is a general one: what we know is that there’s no specific formula for creating one.

A POSITIVE WORKING ENVIRONMENT REQUIRES A BESPOKE APPROACH.

Part and parcel of providing rewards programs is to understand that they are not a silver bullet. But that doesn’t make them unimportant. A 2016 study into Australian workplace wellbeing from Reventure and Converge International had some insights into workplace stress and what’s behind it. Technology, its emergence and malfunction, causes us stress. Poor leadership causes us stress. Instability causes us stress. All the obvious ones.

But here’s the factor that stood out to us: those who don’t feel adequately rewarded at work feel higher levels stress. And they feel those high levels more frequently.

So, yes, sales incentives are not the same as having a strong workplace culture. But the right reward is always going to be important. Rewards, even for us, doesn’t mean a program built entirely from cash bonuses. Our tool is eftpos gift cards, but that doesn’t mean we want to send these cards out into the wild on their own. We want to see them used as part of meaningful appreciation programs.

BUT WHAT DOES A MEANINGFUL APPRECIATION PROGRAM LOOK LIKE?

Sometimes it means receiving broader recognition within an organisation. Maybe a regular rewards ceremony. Or, maybe surprise rewards — unlocking achievements that they don’t know they will receive. For every workplace, this will look different. As we said before, it needs to be bespoke. What your employees respond to in terms of context will vary. We say with a strong degree of certainty that everyone will value the cash reward of an eftpos gift card. But we can’t say that everyone will appreciate being pulled out in front of their colleagues and given a certificate to accompany it. Some might prefer a quiet pat on the back (of course accompanied by their reward).
What matters is that they feel rewarded.

You can achieve that by valuing things that are more than just productivity, but things that contribute to productivity. Like strong leadership! Or coming up with a good idea for a new campaign. Or successfully completing a project that was a hard slog.
 
 

SAYING ‘THANK YOU’ IS A POWERFUL THING.

How you say it empowers it to be even stronger. So, start with the right reward! We have decades of experience of in creating rewards programs that are more than just cards — and across more than just employee rewards. So, start a conversation with us! It could be the most rewarding thing you do all week.


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