Reward & recognition delivery: The importance of making it personal

Reward & recognition delivery: The importance of making it personal

From reinforcing a company’s culture and connecting teams in the digital space to simply adding extra value to the ‘thank you,’ there are many benefits to a business adding an element of personalisation into its reward delivery.

It’s really important to make sure employees feel properly recognised for the hard work they do day in and day out. If they aren’t adequately recognised, there’s a risk of them feeling unvalued, and in turn, becoming disengaged and unmotivated – that’s why a reward and recognition programme is such a key element of any HR strategy. But, for this to be truly successful, there are several factors to consider: When rewards are delivered, what rewards are delivered and, finally, how rewards are delivered. The more personalised and meaningful each of these areas are will hugely impact how the reward scheme and the reward itself is received by the recipient, as well as the level of effectiveness it has on their engagement and motivation.

A business’ reward strategy is a direct reflection of the purpose and values it upholds. When there’s meaning and integrity behind the delivery of each ‘thank you’, employers are much more likely to see a positive impact on behaviour and success in the workplace. In fact, according to The State of Employee Recognition by Bersin & Associates, organisations with the most sophisticated recognition practices are 12 times more likely to have strong business outcomes, and similarly, according to the 2012 SHRM/ Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey, companies with strategic recognition reported a 23.4% lower turnover rate than companies without a recognition programme. With that in mind, in this blog, we’re going to be exploring why the strategic delivery of a reward is fundamental to its impact.

INCREASES THE VALUE OF THE ‘THANK YOU’

First of all, a reward that has been delivered to the recipient in a way that demonstrates meaning and thought has gone into it will be so much more valuable than a generic ‘thank you’ message or a gift without any context. This is because it shows the individual that, not only has their contribution been recognised and appreciated, but that their employer has taken the time to understand them and deliver their reward in a way that reflects this. In turn, this will result in the ‘thank you’ having a bigger impact on morale and a longer-lasting positive sentiment.

While it’s important to invest in your people, making your reward delivery more meaningful doesn’t have to be overly expensive or time-consuming. In fact, it could be as simple as a public acknowledgement of an individual’s efforts. Through our reward and recognition solution, ereward, we offer a social wall feature that allows individuals to both give and receive thanks in a really public way – amplifying the achievement across the business. Sharing ‘thank yous’ publicly will not only allow for better visibility and reinforce desirable behaviour across teams, but it will also likely increase the value of the thank you and have the greatest impact on the recipient.

BOOSTS CREATIVITY AND THE LONG-TERM EFFECTIVENESS OF A SCHEME

Over a number of years, many organisations’ reward strategies will likely become dated, less aligned with core goals and values and therefore, less effective – especially if they continue to use the same generic and robotic delivery approaches. However, when a business adds an element of personalisation to the way it delivers rewards and is constantly evolving the value of its reward delivery strategy, this will have a positive impact on the long-term effectiveness of the scheme, as this mindset will help to ensure things are kept fresh, new and exciting.

We support lots of our clients in keeping their schemes up-to-date and implementing fun, themed branding and reward delivery to tie into seasonal events and celebrations. For example, we worked with one of our clients to rebrand their scheme and reward messaging throughout the Easter period. They included a virtual easter egg hunt with the chance to win an extra day’s holiday, and personalised, public and themed delivery of the reward to the winner. This was during the early stages of the scheme and played a key role in increasing engagement. Initiatives like this demonstrate to the recipient that a lot of thought and meaning goes into the scheme design and messaging to ensure that their reward experience is as engaging and exciting as possible.

Lots of businesses make the mistake of looking at their rewards strategy as a tick-box exercise – but it’s actually something they should be looking to constantly evolve, inject new life into and optimise its user experience – and the delivery of rewards plays a huge part in this.

REINFORCES THE VALUES AND CULTURE OF A BUSINESS

The way a business delivers its ‘thank yous’ directly aligns with its mission and says a lot about its culture, values and ethos. It should therefore look at its reward programme and delivery as an opportunity to reinforce these values and desirable behaviour, as well as to attract and retain top talent.

Each scheme we create for our ereward clients is aligned to their individual corporate values. These values help to build every feature of the platform – from the peer-to-peer social wall to milestone celebrations and end-of-year rewards ceremonies. For example, our social wall feature allows colleagues to recognise hard work tied to one of the business’s core values, so each ‘thank you’ on the platform is another opportunity to promote business values and culture. Similarly, milestone celebrations such as long-service awards, which can be delivered via their ereward scheme, demonstrate that the business values loyalty and commitment. And lastly, periodic reward ceremonies and events are a great opportunity to further promote the ‘thank yous’ that have been shared on the scheme whilst also really hammering home what your business mission and goals are. 

There are lots of ways to say thanks, and lots of ways to deliver those messages of thanks – it’s up to each business to choose delivery methods that not only align with but also reinforce their culture, values and goals.

CONNECTS TEAMS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE

The changing nature of work has meant that colleagues are seeing each other in person less frequently and we’re relying much more on technology and online resources to stay connected. Through the many conversations we’re having with our clients, it appears that many businesses are wanting to recapture those authentic colleague connections, and that shared sense of community that great workplaces are built upon, in the digital space. 

Reward delivery can play a really important role in ensuring managers continue to develop relationships with their teams and motivate them to reach their goals wherever they are and we’re really passionate about helping them do this through the features of ereward. For example, a personal message of thanks from a team leader or colleague who they haven’t seen in a while will go a long way in engaging the recipient and reaffirming that they’re doing a good job and that that hard work is being recognised. 

A popular tool that we’re seeing more of in reward and recognition strategies in the digital space is media recognition. This is when an image video or audio file is used to support the ‘thank you,’ making the message much more personal and meaningful and almost replicating an in-person interaction. With ereward, individuals can simply attach their media file when recognising their colleagues through the platform. They select the colleague or group of colleagues they want to recognise, type out a message to explain the reason behind the recognition and then add their media file to further support it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To summarise, when reward and recognition are delivered in a personalised way, a business’ reward strategy has the potential to become an increasingly core element to business function and success. According to our CEO, Andy Caldicott, “the delivery of any ‘thank you’ in the workplace is a really important factor for businesses to consider when implementing their reward strategy. Ensuring this delivery method is optimised in a way that connects teams and creates an impactful response on engagement is key – and over the last few years, there’s no doubt technology has played a critical role in this.”

Through our ereward solution, we help businesses around the UK deliver rewards to their people and celebrate them when it matters most. We have created literally hundreds of features and apps to help organisations celebrate and recognise success in their own way, through a scheme that aligns with their branding, values and mission. 

To find out more, head to https://peoplevalue.net/reward-and-recognition/.