As a business owner, you expect your employees to provide their best effort toward the success of the business, and you compensate them appropriately for their hard work and dedication to achieve mutual business goals. Whether their pay is based on an hourly rate, salary, or commission depends on the specifics of their contract, but great employees always deserve rewards. Conducting an official employee motivation program can engage employees, as well as ensuring they feel appreciated and recognized.
What Is an Employee Motivation Program?
In the simplest terms, an employee motivation program recognizes and rewards what employees do for company growth.
To be more specific, an employee motivation program may include anything from a gift card reward to a local restaurant, a day off, or digital points that can be redeemed in an online rewards catalog.
Of course, just saying “Thank you” out loud can go a long way toward employee motivation, but a formal bonus system makes it clear how much you appreciate your employees.
Why Use an Employee Motivation Program?
As the business owner, or a manager, you have an obligation to treat your employees fairly. An employee motivation program shows your appreciation beyond the agreed upon paycheck you use to provide your contractual obligation toward your employees, but rather provides mental and emotional engagement. An employee who enjoys their job will take pride in their work and typically outperform someone who just shows up at work every day because it’s their job and they have to be there. Engaged, motivated employees are more likely to think outside the box
Motivational rewards are more than a little bonus, they confirm the importance of your employees who in turn work harder to maintain such a confirmation.
Which Employees Receive Rewards?
Ideally, every employee receives rewards every day. Your janitor may seem like an easily replaceable worker, but like everyone else on your staff, he takes pride in his work and appreciates recognition. Pay attention to your employees’ needs and structure your employee motivation program accordingly. A gift card to a children’s clothing store is perfect before school starts up, points toward a rewards catalog may be ideal during the holiday season of gift giving, or credits toward a family vacation package can be a great award as people are planning their vacations. The idea is to pay attention to employee needs and find a suitable rewards package.
Incorporating a Goal Oriented Rewards Program
A goal oriented employee motivation program can be incorporated for either a factory work crew or a commissioned sales team. With a factory production team, the reward may be for simply finishing a project on time or even ahead of schedule. In production, sometimes circumstances outside of your employees’ control can prevent the deadline from being met. Don’t worry, even though they didn’t meet the goal, the men and women on your production team have built a culture based on taking pride in their work and trying their best to achieve the deadline.
Sales teams generally work the same way. If you force them to work as hard as they can at an unsustainable pace, they aren’t going to be happy and aren’t going to provide verified results. If you give them project goals recognized by direct rewards to acknowledge their accomplishments, they will build a culture of pride in their accomplishments and generally provide the services you hired them for better than the expectations you hold of them.
Building Toward Successful Results
Building your company toward successful results is the ultimate goal you hope to achieve, and a properly managed employee motivation program will help you attain your goals. When you provide motivation encouragement through rewards and awards, you recognize your employees’ accomplishments. When they feel recognized, they are going to work harder to maintain the performance you’ve come to expect of them as they take pride in their ability to satisfy your demands. In order to maintain a successful company by meeting the needs of your clients, you have to also meet the needs of your valued employees. It’s never a bad idea to give someone a pat on the back with a word of congratulations, but an actual verified bonus via a rewards program is going to be far more greatly appreciated in the long run as recognition of accomplishment.
When you need to set up a rewards program for your employees, a professional company with trained expertise toward developing a system for your needs is a tried and proven means toward accomplishing your goal.
