Reward programs improve productivity, enhance employee experience, and lower employee turnover by 31%. It’s no surprise that companies everywhere are creating recognition programs. But, for all the benefits a reward program can offer, you will likely see those numbers dwindle substantially if not appropriately designed with business strategies in place.
Seven Strategic Steps for Designing an Effective Rewards Program
Everyone is aware for the best results in anything in business or life; there needs to be a plan behind the actions. Without a proper strategy, at best you are doing is throwing darts blindly and hoping to hit the mark. We recommend these strategic steps to make the most from creating an employee appreciation program.
1. Create a Team
Few great things are accomplished alone. The best strategies are created when more people are involved with the process and are assigned accountability. When you Include leadership, key players, and all other team members, then you will build a well-rounded and diverse team. Your team will develop key insights in your industry and know what has worked for others in the past or what is outside the box and worth considering.
2. Make Current Assessments
Evaluate what your company currently has in a reward program, any gaps in the program, and the outcomes. Knowledge about what works and doesn’t work in your current rewards program creates a guide to your future steps in building your new program.
3. Determine Where You Want to Go
Once you know where you are, you can do one of two things. You can say, “We’re good,” and stop at this step or you can determine that you want to do more. You can decide with your team’s input if you’re going to increase the usage of the reward program, or the value of the rewards given. For your efforts, your company benefits from a possible 83% gain in employee engagement from your employee recognition efforts, big or small.
4. Account Budget and Costs
After establishing where you want to be, the next step is the reality of your ambitions. By getting with your financial department and crunching numbers, you will have an accurate budget as you plan the program and search for rewards.
5. Create a Baseline
From here, you will want to develop the rewards program based on set recognition and reward goals. By establishing metrics you validate the program’s authenticity and encourage its success. You can even choose rewards that best suit your industry and company culture.
6. Communicate
An essential step is relaying the plan to all stakeholders. Communication can be done during the testing phase to see what kind of interest there is and evaluate any potential hiccups that might occur during launch. This is the moment to take time to get everyone on board with what you are trying to accomplish with the program, their support will be essential for success.
7. Measure Results and Impact
The best strategies are continuously adapted and changed to counter what comes along. Assessing the progress of the reward program allows you to know the true impact of your effort. Collect data through employee surveys and performance reviews and measure how well the program is developing.
Watch How Employee Incentives Benefit Business
Final Takeaway
If you are looking to improve employee productivity, employee experience, and employee retention, then taking the proper steps to design a strategic employee recognition program is the smart way to go. Contact us today and we can help with information on getting started with a rewards program your staff will both thrive because of and love using.
