Employee Rewards That Don't Cost Money

Rewarding employees for good work is an important factor in motivating and retaining quality staff members. While raises, prizes and trips are impressive perks, these rewards can strain your budget and aren’t always practical. Learn what motivates your employees and develop a rewards program that recognizes your employees’ contributions at no cost to your company.

Offer Public Praise

Employees who routinely do a good job may feel that their efforts are taken for granted by their supervisors. A little praise will help them feel appreciated and raise their morale. Offering praise publicly lets others in the company know that you value good work. In addition to public praise, send the employee a handwritten note that describes how much you appreciate his work. Announce employee successes at your next staff meeting, and feature employees who’ve made a positive contribution in your employee newsletter. In addition to praise, you may want to offer an extra benefit to high-performing employees, such as use of the best parking space for one month.

Provide New Opportunities

Offer high-profile or interesting projects to employees who consistently perform well. Appoint them to company committees and companywide projects. Let them know that you want to see them succeed and are willing to provide the tools and experiences they need. HR Advisors Newsletter suggests keeping an eye out for opportunities for promotions in other departments if your department doesn’t have these opportunities. The newsletter notes that while you may lose a good employee to another division, the employee will realize that you care about his future as much as your own.

Increase Visibility

Let others know about your most productive workers. Introduce them to upper management, important customers or key vendors. If you can’t attend a meeting, ask one of your high-performing employees to go in your place. In addition to ensuring that your department is represented at the meeting, sending an employee will give your staff member new experiences and new connections. If your department must make a presentation to upper management, ask your employee to prepare and present all or part of the presentation.

Offer Flexible Schedules

Reward responsible employees by allowing them to work from home and make their own hours. The HR World website notes that telecommuting programs can relieve stress, increase productivity and make workers feel appreciated. If you don’t work in the type of industry suited to working at home, allow employees to leave early or come in late if they need to take care of family responsibilities or want to avoid rush-hour traffic. Focus on the work produced rather than the hours that the employees spend in the office.

Source: work.chron.com

Collected by Nhu-Vu SAPUWA