Being an employer, you need to find new and different ways to reward your team. For making a sound reward system at your workplace; you have to do some strategic and creative thinking. However, many companies do not do such things which make their employees uncomfortable.
You will see an excellent rewarding system in every big company in the world.
Many companies avoid this because they think this is time-consuming and costly for the company. Such companies do not see the more significant benefits of rewarding their team.
But being an employer, you not only have to reward your team but also give them appreciation and recognition.
There are many good reasons why companies and employers should reward their team and employees. This includes better office culture, better engagement, and productivity of the group. Here are the best ways to reward your team, which shows that you care for them.
WHAT’S IN IT
12 WAYS TO REWARD YOUR TEAM
Handwritten Appreciation
When a boss gives a handwritten recognition to his employee, it can go a long way. In this method, there is no high cost of money and time. Writing a handwritten note for the appreciation of his performance, for wishing him his birthday, or for any festival makes him feel that you acknowledge the person and shows care for him. It shows that you have time for them also. This action speaks Louder Than words.
Give parties
When you celebrate for project completion of any festival throwing an office party is always a good idea as a reward. Office parties are good because it allows employees to feel more connected and comfortable. It might cost more than a handwritten note, but your team will thank you for it.
Money
Everyone works for money and loves it. However, it does not create a long motivation effect. But there are exceptions when you change the purpose of giving it. Getting money is in the form of a bonus when you work extra hard is more appealing than just getting handed money. This works for many people as they feel, they deserved it. This works best at the time of festivals when people have extra expenses.
Holidays
Giving an off for a few days to an employee who is giving better results is suitable for both him and his team members. Give extra holidays during festivals so that he can spend time with his family or can go back to his hometown for the celebration. Giving these holidays without cutting them from their annual leaves will be a heartwarming gesture.
Magazine subscription
Reward your team with magazine subscriptions. Magazines should be the ones who talk about productivity, health, personality improvement, financial knowledge, etc. Such magazines will help your team members grow on a personal level, and resultingly it will be beneficial for the company at the end. Give them options for such magazines and let them choose. This will make you a good boss who cares about the improvement of his employees.
Book the tickets
The whole team can go for a movie or a cricket match. From concerts to sports many events are happening all around the year. Going to such activities as a team will be fun.
While working, everyone works as a team, so while enjoying the whole squad should make fun.
Go for a trip
You can go on an adventurous trip with your team. You can go for a picnic or an exhibition visit. Rewarding your team with such visits will be a good idea. And make sure to make such trips regularly in a year or two.
Meeting Location
Do not always keep meetings at the same office; it feels boring. You can have a meeting out somewhere nice. For example, many people have their meetings at coffee shops. There you can give a treat to your team as well as perform the session. Moving to a new place for meetings is always a productive and rewarding activity.
Everyone gets more creative while working at a new place with the same people. Hence you can have a great brainstorming session. Many leaders use this as a productivity hack.
Sometimes you can also invite their families to make them happy and celebrate.
Give flexible working locations
Earlier companies used to give the second Saturday holiday to make employees happy. Then it became common. Now many companies offer flexible dress codes, and startups do not care much about them.
Now in today’s world, although work from home is typical due to COVID-19 pandemic after that, also companies should give the option to work from home. Working from your place provides more flexibility to employees, and hence productivity increases.
Show Personal touch
Always being in professional mode adds boringness in the office. So, mixing a personal touch is good. It will be fun and make your team feel connected. Small actions such as giving them high fives, patting on back, praising them in front of everyone, etc. make a big difference.
You can give rewards like becoming a boss for a day, going for lunch with the boss.
Whenever you get public recognition for any project, always praise the efforts of your team by calling out their names. Remember, Nothing sounds sweeter than listening to your name.
Provide free training
Most new generation employees consider development opportunities and career growth as an essential part of the job. As a leader, you need to provide them with practical and competitive knowledge. You can teach them the skills by yourself or by hiring a professional.
Remember, the new workforce coming into the industry is hungry for knowledge. They know learning is priceless. Hence this could be the best priceless reward you can offer.
Healthy food and gym subscription
Busy and hard-working people usually do not pay much attention to their health and fitness. You can offer your team a gym subscription nearby office so that they can collectively go and support each other.
You can also offer a high nutrition diet from office canteen. It will improve their health so that they don’t get ill and they respect you.
CHALLENGES WHILE REWARDING YOUR TEAM
Although rewarding your team may generate great teamwork and great results. But, it can also destroy groups and fail projects.
- You should reward the behavior you want to see. Paying the team just for the sake of doing it, irrespective of observing your team’s behavior may destroy the team’s seriousness.
- You should reward the team for working as a team. It takes a team to work as a team. There are many people in the group those have different areas of expertise, skills, training, etc. It is hard to bond together with people of various kinds.
- Do not only reward a single person of the team. It will cause jealousness among other team members for that person as well as for you. Just like in the sports team, a single-player cant makes the team win, same in business a single person cant help in doing the whole thing.
- When a team includes persons from different backgrounds and cultures, then you have to take extra care. For example- a few members of your team are vegetarian, and you throw a non-veg party, it may not be received very well. If you do something according to a culture that has no meaning for people of other cultures, then you are not rewarding that group.
Conclusion
In short, you should always remain smart while rewarding your team. After reading the above tips, you would have realized that these rewarding activities may sometime cost you money, but in the end, it improves your team in every aspect. You should never consider this task as a regular chore. But you should do it by your heart because it’s your team that makes you a leader. Without a team, you cant be a leader. Treat them as a family who helps you in running your business.
Each of the rewards told above will convey your recognition and appreciation for the hard work and dedication of your team.
Also You can read our Blog on Team Management Skills building in 22 ways