Incentivizing employees for their performance plays a critical role in enhancing their productivity and quality of work. It ultimately leads to your business success. Usually, employee rewards are in the form of bonuses, commissions, and other monetary benefit. However, that’s not always what employees seek. According to research by the Incentive Research Federation, nearly 65% of employees prefer non-monetary rewards over financial benefits.
Incidentally, employers seem to have picked up this shift, as 84% of companies are investing in merchandise, reward points, and gift cards as a part of their rewards and recognition program.
In this article, we will explore how non-monetary rewards help you create a motivating incentive strategy.
The Value of Experience: Creating Memorable Moments as Rewards
Non-monetary rewards and recognition programs facilitate memorable experiences for employees that serve as a reminder throughout their careers. It also fosters a positive and competitive work environment that will only further your business objectives.
Personalize recognition program
Instead of cash money, you provide an experiential award that can be personalized to your employees’ preferences. It adds a personal touch that gives you an opportunity to show how much you value your employees.
Establish emotional connection
Non-monetary awards can be as simple as public appreciation, thank you notes, or celebratory lunch, which are effective ways of building an emotional connection with your employees.
Make them feel belonged
By giving them something that adds to their experience at the workplace, you make them feel like they belong. Since non-monetary rewards don’t have to be confidential, they are often team-based events.
Give a sense of achievement
Foster a sense of accomplishment with a digital approach to recognition. Rather than physical gifts, focus on personalized digital badges, a virtual rewards system, and recognition through manager and peer nominations. Celebrate successes with badges like ‘Best team-player’ or ‘Nominated for Star Performer Award,’ displayed online, creating lasting pride and motivation within your team.
Remains impactful for a long time
As they are material objects, performance incentives add to your employee’s job satisfaction and self-esteem within the company. It not only motivates them to improve their performance but also engages them in the long run.
Flexibility and Work-Life Balance: Integrating Personalization into Rewards
Non-monetary rewards like Experiential rewards like tickets to sporting events or concerts, gift certificates for restaurants or spas, and access to online training courses enable you to create a healthy work-life balance while personalizing the rewards and recognition program as per your employees’ individual needs and references.
Gives you flexibility in selecting rewards
You can pick an award that aligns with your employees’ individual goals instead of offering a generic plaque. For example, you can send your employees to pottery-making classes or professional courses to reward them.
Time off as a reward for effort
It is often said that good workers are laden with more work by virtue of their performance. You can break this myth by making it a culture to give your best performers time off. They can utilize this to pursue their hobbies or spend quality time with family.
Promote well-being and health
As a way of rewarding your employees, you can promote healthy life choices by giving non-monetary presents like gym memberships, wellness app subscriptions, and wellness getaways as part of your rewards and recognition program.
Long-Term Impact: How Non-Monetary Recognition Drives Sustained Performance
It could be a stretch but often times cash prizes extinguish the desire to continue good performance. Money can sometimes play a demotivating role making employees sluggish. Non-monetary rewards like certificates or company-wide appreciation give employees a reason to maintain their performance level.
With most employees decorating their workstations with symbols of achievements like certificates and trophies, they get a constant dose of motivation. They will not only continue maintaining their high standards but also work towards improving their skills through a variety of upskilling courses. All of this ultimately helps spread a culture of learning and growth.
Conclusion
Rewards and recognition programs are essential for companies to keep up the spirits of their employees and sustain good performance. But most businesses, allot a fixed amount of money as cash prizes to reward good performers. It shows a lack of genuine appreciation from management and could backfire terribly. To ensure that your rewards have the effect that you desire, collaborate with a good employee rewards platform like Zaggle Propel. It provides companies with a customizable catalogue of gifts and experiences from across a variety of retailers and partners including Amazon, Lifestyle, and so on.
