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Reward Success

In the process of celebrating success, reward it! Some organizations budget to reward success, such as through a bonus program or merit pay increases. Others encourage their leaders to give more nominal rewards, such as movie tickets or a day off.

Nonprofits and government organizations sometimes have to find other means of rewarding their employees due to shoestring budgets and ethical policies.

Michele, a supervisor working for a government agency in the Midwest has her hands tied by state policy when it comes to giving employees a bonus or even taking them to lunch on the agency’s dime. So, she looks for other ways to reward and recognize, such as a round high-five from the team during a staff meeting to acknowledge someone’s good performance. Or she leaves employees voice mails to start their day, recognizing them for a job well done, and she mails them cards with words of praise for a specific achievement.

However, almost all organizations have a performance review process, and that presents a great opportunity to reward success. That reward can be either in words of praise that goes into the person’s personnel file for the future, or if the success is consistent over time or significant, it could warrant a pay increase.