Different Ways to Reward Awesome Employees

Rewarding a job well done can go a long way because it can make employees feel appreciated and keep them motivated at work. Some managers resort to rewarding stellar employees with financial incentives and bonuses because it’s added compensation for their hard work, but is it really the best way to keep your employees happy, engaged, and motivated?

There are lots of better ways to reward employees without needing to shell out money. Sometimes, employees will even feel more appreciated because you take into consideration their career growth and needs. Here are some great ideas that you can consider the next time an employee exceeds your expectations:

Offer them flexible working hours

If you can provide it, offer flexible working hours. These can be very rewarding because the nine-to-five schedule doesn’t always work for everyone. Some prefer to work on a more flexible timeline as they can be more productive that way. This also shows them that you trust them enough to get their job and tasks done without too much supervision.

Flexible working hours can make a huge difference in your employees’ work-life balance and, in turn, increases their odds of success.

Give them mentors

The opportunity to connect with and learn from experienced professionals can be extremely valuable for an employee’s career growth — and when an employee grows, the company can take great pride in that.

Actively connect your employees to skilled peers and higher-ups that you know. Introduce your employees as talented professionals that you vouch for so that they can foster a good professional relationship with their potential mentors.

Encourage them to learn and absorb all the knowledge their mentors will pour into them because, in the long run, it will definitely pay off in untold ways — for you, for them, and for your company.

Hone their skills and train them

Top performers are always looking for more opportunities to learn and grow, and you want to feed that hunger for knowledge. If you don’t, you might risk losing them to the competition.

You can give your employees access to training, courses, conferences, and other opportunities to build their skills. Focus on ensuring that they are not stagnant in their job and train them to take on more responsibility. As they continue to prove themselves worthy, consider raising their position in the career ladder.

Let them take the lead

When you’ve got highly engaged and top-performing employees, offer them the chance to direct their own path. Autonomy can be extremely motivating because it shows that their work is commendable and trustworthy. If you’re still undecided on fully letting them lead, you can start them off as leaders of small projects or teams and eventually move them to bigger ones when they’re ready. You can also establish reasonable and achievable key performance indicators so that they have a guide on how to lead a project or team to success.

When you let your people take the lead and give them the power to direct and decide, they’ll be happy with the creative freedom while you’ll be happy with the fresh ideas and innovative outputs they’ll put on the table.

Thank them sincerely

Whether it’s done publicly or privately, letting your employees know that you see and appreciate the work they do is a simple but touching way to reward them. It makes them feel seen in a big company and they get validation that the time and effort they exert is worth it.

You can do this in different ways so that it can be more special every time you thank them. You can send a personal email or a company blast. Another idea is to leave a surprise notecard on their desks. During meetings, especially with their teammates present, it might be a good idea to mention their accomplishments then. If you have a lot of employees to recognize, try dedicating a day to award all of them in front of the whole company. Whatever it is, as long as it’s a way for you to acknowledge hard work and excellent performance, make use of it.

All in all, there are countless ways to reward your employees. It all comes down to what works best for them and keeps them motivated. Consider the short-term and long-term results as well so that you can get a clear perspective of the best reward you can provide.

Of course, as you consider the rewards you will offer, you should always make sure you are continuously providing them the right compensation and protection while they work for you. We at CIII Insurance Services can help you manage that by helping you understand workers’ compensation insurance and other insurance policies that protect your employees. You can even source out the best policies from us!

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