There might have been a time when people just stayed in their jobs because they were paid well.
But that is not the case anymore.
More and more people are quitting their jobs because of toxic work culture and an exhausting work environment.
So, what is the best way to retain your valuable workforce?
Employee rewards and recognition is how you can show your employees that they are valued and respected. Here we are going to list the benefits of employee rewards and recognition. Let’s get started.
1. Developing a Sense Of Gratification
Who does not like to be appreciated for a job well done?
The answer is no one.
When an employee does his job well, they wish to be appreciated for his extra efforts. And a fat paycheck is not always going to cut it.
Therefore, the next time you see one of your employees working hard and putting in extra effort on a project, compliment the person. For substantial milestones, award them a certificate of recognition packaged in an official company folder.
Employees love it when they get congratulated for their efforts in front of other coworkers. An added touch can be putting these certifications in folders. It can show that recognition is genuine as an extra effort was added.
Additionally, this motivates the other employers to work hard so that they can be appreciated as well.
This makes them believe that they are contributing to the company’s success. Thus, making your employees celebrate when your company succeeds. Developing this sense of gratification and pride in an employee’s mind is crucial.
2. Reduce Absenteeism
Stress and burnout among employees mean loss of productivity.
Loss of productivity directly affects your business.
You might want to avoid that.
A healthier and happier work culture means there is a lesser chance of your employees being burned out. Appreciating your employees increases their level of personal happiness and increases productivity.
A study says that values and recognizes their employees had lesser burnouts. Additionally, it lowered the amount of sick leave taken by the employees by 64 percent.
3. Boosting Morale
Look at the quality of work produced by an employee on their first day.
Now, look at the quality of the same work produced by the employee after a year of working.
Normally you would expect them to have produced better quality work because they are well experienced over the years. But the repetitive cycle might have exhausted them, and they might have made lower quality work than before.
In such cases, you have to work to improve your employee’s morale. Boosting their confidence with rewards and appreciation can help get them out of their slump. Implement this and watch your employees deliver their best work consistently.
4. Inspires Healthy Competition
What happens when you appreciate and reward your employee?
Their peers look up to the one being appreciated. They see what they could get if they worked hard as well. Consequently, they want that appreciation as well. This is how you boost healthy competition among your employees and make them produce their best work.
If your company has a motivated and productive workforce, then your business will flourish. A flourishing business has a competitive edge over a competing business.
5. Retain a Talented Workforce
How do you make the most talented employees stay?
Do you give them a hefty paycheck and hope they stay with your company?
A lump sum paycheck will make them smile only on the day their salary gets credited.
People will never forget the way you treat them. If you treat them well, they are going to want to stay. If you mistreat them, they are going to want to leave at the first chance.
Remember, employees do not leave their jobs. They leave their bosses.
So if you want to keep your existing talented workforce for a long time, you have to show them the appreciation they deserve.
6. Better Workplace Relationships
As a business owner, you would have ambitious goals to achieve. Most of the time to accomplish these goals, you would need the help of all your employees. In such cases, it helps in having good workplace relationships with your employees.
Having formal employee recognition programs helps you in recognizing talented individuals and forming a bond with them. In addition, you can include peer activities and make them create a connection with their peers.
Team building activities help improve their ability to work well as a team. This will consequently help them achieve your business goals for you.
7. Better Customer Satisfaction
Happiness is contagious.
A happy employee works better and delivers quality products. A quality product offered to a customer makes them happy about your business. A satisfied customer indicates a successful business.
A national survey reported that engaged employees brought in satisfied customers. And these happy customers brought in a 20% increase in sales and word-of-mouth referrals.
Thus happy employees boost sales and create a successful business. This is why you should adopt employee rewards and recognition procedures into your work culture.
8. Better Employee Retention
It is costly to recruit an employee and train them for the position.
If your employees are leaving you regularly, then it could be costly for your company to handle. Higher expenditure brings your bottom line up and makes it hard for your company to break even.
Additionally, there are employees that you hope will not leave because of the value they bring to the company.
Therefore having a reward and recognition program in place can help convince employees to stay with you longer.
Final Thoughts
Treating someone well is basic empathy.
Your employees are people too, and they deserve to be treated well. They spend most of their time working for your business and helping you achieve your goals. Therefore spending quality time establishing a bond with them and appreciating them for their skills is the least you can do.
You do not have to go out of your way and take extravagant measures to make them feel appreciated. In most cases, a handwritten “thank you for your services XX” can work.
You can also provide them with incentives and bonuses on holidays. How you choose to appreciate your employees is entirely up to you. Get your creative juices flowing and formulate unique ways of saying thank you.
