5 things your recognition and reward system should have

We have found that the most effective reward and recognition programs have at least these 5 characteristics.

Peer Recognition

Peer recognition has become such an important part of any reward and recognition program. Think about modern day sport, often the ‘players player’ award is the most coveted of awards to win. The reason peer recognition is important in both sport and business is that it is your peers that actually see you perform day to day. Recognition from your peers carries enormous weight and kudos. It also improves and strengthens the relationship between those nominating and those receiving.

Recognition needs to be timely

For recognition to be effective it needs to be instant, or as close to instant as possible. If you have a recognition process in place then you can acknowledge and deliver recognition in real time, which is always more effective than having to wait to month end, year-end or even worse, forget to actually celebrate it. I think we can all remember times when you were told you were going to be rewarded or recognised for something you have done and it just passed by, not much fun, right?

Create choice when it comes to rewards

There are many studies that show exactly what motivates people. You’ll find reports that state employees are motivated by money, or public recognition and so on. However, your employees are individuals and when you’re trying to motivate them you need to give them the ability to choose the reward that motivates them as a person, as an individual.

The ability to simply say thank you

Sometimes the most appropriate reward is a simply thank you, delivered in real time. Make sure your system has the ability for employees to thank the people they work with for the things that happen every day. It’s quick, virtually no cost and as we have found really effective.

Make the system easy to use

Make the system easy to use from administrators right the way through to the new employee that has only been on board for a month. Make it intuitive, make it easy to use, make it enjoyable. It’s important for everyone to feel that it’s a part of their everyday working like. Give them some ownership, involve them in the development, the naming of it and its launch.

If you would like to know more about reward and recognition programs then let us show you how Xtend works.