Ten Tips on Rewarding Employees

1. Be creative. Managers should be as creative as possible in coming up with ideas for rewards. I have seen managers who have been incredibly creative, and have even bartered their services to another company in order to get rewards for their employees.

2. Use the element of surprise. Sometimes the element of surprise can add a great deal of impact to a reward. I once went into an employee’s office on a Friday afternoon at 2:00 and told her she had worked really hard and to take the rest of the day off. It had the desired effect: She felt appreciated!

3. Small rewards can be big. Many times, small rewards can be very big in terms of impact. As I stated earlier, I belong to Toastmasters, and at every meeting, there is an award for the best speaker, best evaluator, and best table topic. The award is a small blue ribbon. Let me tell you that ribbon has great value even though it probably costs less than a quarter.

4. Stand on ceremony. When rewards are given, the way they are presented is as important as the reward itself. Managers should maximize the impact of the award by thinking through how it should be presented. At the Toastmasters meetings, the ribbons are given out with great ceremony at the end of the meeting.

5. Give an award that keeps giving. Managers can give rewards that keep giving. Examples of this include magazine subscriptions or a flower of the month club. Every month, the employee gets reminded of their reward and accomplishment.

6. Give plaques and trophies. People love plaques, trophies, and certificates. We know this is true because most employees proudly display them in their office. They serve as a tangible representation of their efforts.

7. Remember, money is short lived. Many managers think that money is the best reward, and it can be effective. However, I have found that other rewards such as trips and gift certificates actually have a higher perceived value because people can then buy things they normally wouldn’t buy for themselves. If an employee is given money, they typically use it to pay bills. If they are given a gift certificate to a travel agency, they will treat themselves by taking a trip. The memory of that reward lasts much longer, so management gets more mileage out of the reward.

8. Give rewards to everyone. I have worked in organizations where only salespeople are rewarded. I understand that is because they are the employees who bring in the revenue. However, I think getting everyone involved and rewarded generates more excitement overall.

9. Give education as a reward. A great way for managers to reward employees is to give education as a reward, because it develops and motivates the employee. One way managers can build a learning organization is valuing training and development. One way to increase the value is to make it a reward.

10. Make sure employees know. Managers should be so overt about giving an award that employees know it is an award and it is something special. The old adage says if you do someone a favor, let them know it. If managers give an award, they should make sure the employee knows the award is special.