Rewards and Incentives for Employees - Employee Motivation at Its Peak

If the higher-ups offer proper rewards and incentives to their employees in a workplace, it doesn’t only benefit the employees. It also benefits the employers too. Rewards and incentives for employees are used in numerous workplaces these days in order to motivate the employees and boost their morale. These things also help to develop teamwork among the employees through friendly competition.

Providing the best incentives for employees is important to keep them productive in their work. These things drive them to keep doing better in their jobs. Everyone likes to feel appreciated and valued for their efforts and hard work. That’s why it’s important to recognize an employee’s effort for a business or an organization. If a workplace provides its employees with proper incentives and rewards, it creates a positive vibe around the workplace.

When employees get proper incentives and rewards in their workplace, the business experiences increased employee loyalty. They will also see an increase in productivity, revenue, and growth. These also help with other essential workplace metrics such as employee engagement, employee retention, etc.

Various incentives and rewards have now become an integral part of the corporate culture. If a company gives performance incentives for employees, they feel inspired and elated to keep up the good work. They feel more engaged in the workplace, and as a result, it becomes easier for a company to retain its best employees.

Difference Between Rewards and Incentives

rewards and incentives for employees Even though employers of many workplaces seem to use the terms incentives and rewards interchangeably, these two things have some differences.

When an employee meets the goals set for them or does exceptional work by going above and beyond, the company provides that employee with some intriguing items or experiences as a token of appreciation and recognition. Rewards can be either monetary or non-monetary. Employees love being rewarded for their accomplishments in the workplace. It helps them feel noticed and valued by the higher-ups of the company. It also drives them to have bigger ambitions and goals regarding their career.

On the other hand, incentives are more specific. An employee receives an incentive for completing a particular task in the workplace. If an employee looks forward to being eligible for an incentive in the workplace, they need to achieve a goal or complete a task by a specific period set by the company. Incentives remain associated with a time typically. Usually, incentives are oriented towards achieving specific goals and are combined with a reward.

Whereas an employee can get rewarded for putting in any kind of good work for the company or getting accomplishments, incentives work for achieving specific tasks. Completing other tasks rather than the specific ones that are associated with the incentives set by the company won’t bring them anything. It does not matter how good they do in completing other tasks. When an employee reaches a specific goal associated with an incentive within the set time period, they receive the incentive.

Incentives can be of different types. They can get recognized by the higher-ups, or get monetary rewards. Employees can also receive incentives in the form of different job perks such as health care reimbursement, or a loan without interest for getting a car, and many more.

No matter if it is awarded for something specific, or something in general, both rewards and incentives work as great forms of recognition. Both of them make employees feel appreciated and valued by the company. This brings in better results for the company and more growth in return. These things make employees work harder and do better in their jobs to achieve various goals.

Benefits of Rewards and Incentives In a Company

Whenever a company’s leadership decides to incorporate a reward and incentive program for their employees, they enjoy certain benefits. The benefits of rewards and incentives for employees’ motivation are manifold. Let’s look at some of the benefits an organization or company can enjoy by implementing special rewards and incentives programs for their employees. Here are the benefits-

Employee Loyalty

Employees always want to feel appreciated and valued by the leadership. Their efforts and contributions to the company must be getting noticed and recognized. Even though employees can feel noticed and valued with just recognition, a thoughtful and motivating reward can make them feel proud and happy about their accomplishments.

They will feel like they have made a difference for the company. Employees that feel their hard work and efforts are getting properly valued and feel that their hard work isn’t going in vain become more loyal to the company. They have a higher chance of remaining in the company instead of looking for other opportunities.

Increase in Productivity

Incentives and rewards help to increase the productivity of the employees. Employees try to work harder in order to achieve their targets and win a reward from the higher-ups. Rewards and incentives can motivate employees to do better in the workplace. The main thing, however, is that the employees feel a lot more driven due to the recognition they get that comes with the rewards. The recognition makes the employees push themselves to go that extra mile.

More Accountability

When team-based incentives and rewards are announced, a heightened perception of accountability can be felt around the workplace. All the teams try to achieve certain targets or complete specific tasks within time to win those incentives or rewards. Due to this, teammates hold each other accountable in order to succeed together. When there is more accountability at play in the workplace, it equates to better work and fewer mistakes. This means great benefits for the company.

Improvement in Collaboration

When team-based incentives or rewards are introduced, a team leader tries their best to improve collaboration between the team members to finish a project properly. All the teammates can get divided into multiple small teams to tackle different tasks that need to be taken care of.

When the team members work together responsibly to achieve a common goal, it becomes easier to overcome any barrier. As a result, companies see massive growth and achieve great results. When team members collaborate, they become more motivated to do their best and make their leader proud by winning the incentive or reward. So, the question is – Do incentives motivate employees? The answer is YES!

Boost in Morale and Employee Motivation

Reward and Incentive programs can highly boost the morale of the employees. When employees encourage each other to do their best to win the rewards or incentives, it creates a positive environment in the workplace. When employees feel supported by their colleagues and leaders, they work better to achieve their goals for the company.

When morale is high in the workplace, it motivates employees to work harder to get recognized for their hard work. As most employees tend to be competitive, they feel the need to stand out among others so that they can be considered for promotions, raises, and other rewards or incentives. They become motivated to do their best for the company. This results in huge profits for the company.

Best Ideas for Rewards and Incentives for Employees

Here are some of the things that can work as incentives or rewards for the employees of a company-

Branded Items

Companies often provide their top-performing employees with items such as coffee mugs, water bottles, backpacks, t-shirts, notepads, etc. that contain the logo of the company. These work as great rewards for employees if the items look intriguing and are highly functional. These make the employees feel recognized and valued, as they think the company finds them worthy to carry the company logo.

Cash

There is nothing more motivating than cash rewards. Moreover, cash helps an employee to get something they want or need.

Remote Workday

Employees love the opportunity to work from their homes, even if it is just for a day. The opportunity to work from home for a day or two can work as a great incentive or reward.

Catered Lunch

The company can arrange a surprise lunch for the employees as a reward for their good work.

Paid Time Off

After finishing a significant and challenging project by staying late nights at the office, you can reward the teams that worked on the project with paid time off as an incentive for the project. This will be highly appreciated by the employees. They will have the opportunity to have some time for their family and themselves after a streak of hardworking days.

Company Feature

The company can feature employees in the company feeds of different social media, and also in the company bulletin boards. They can also make a wall of fame to recognize their hard work, efforts, and accomplishments.

Skill Growing Opportunities

Companies can reward hard-working employees with the opportunity to learn from others through skill-sharing. This will help them grow professionally. They can be provided with time and opportunities to take webinars, attend lunch and learning sessions, learn skills through different online learning platforms, etc.

Gift Cards

Employees can be rewarded with gift cards from their favorite clothing brands or restaurants. This reward will make them feel happy and valued by the company. At the same time, they will get the opportunity to get something they have wanted for a long time.

Wellness Program

Different wellness programs for employees can be implemented in the company as a reward for the employees. Through the programs, they will take advantage of different things such as massages, company gyms, etc. It will help them to feel relaxed from all the stress and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Upgraded Resources

Employees can be rewarded with upgraded resources for their hard work. Employees highly appreciate it when they are provided with better tools and resources to work with. It makes them feel noticed and valued. It also drives them to do a better job with better resources.

Final Words

There is nothing more effective than rewards and incentives to increase the morale, motivation, and productivity of the employees of any company. It is important that employees of a workplace get recognized, appreciated, and valued for all the hard work they put in for the company. This drives them to work harder and do better in their jobs. So, rewards and incentives for employees must be implemented by any organization or company to see growth and better results.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core difference between a monetary incentive vs non-monetary incentive?

Ans: Monetary and non-monetary incentives work the same way. They’re both trying to motivate people to do something that will make them more money. But the difference is, the non-monetary incentive is more “fun” and is a natural motivator. The monetary incentive is all fun yet over-complementary in terms of value against productivity. So we usually tend to lean towards the monetary incentive.