As the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. While verbal praise is always appreciated, it should be the minimum baseline for showing employee appreciation.

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There’s nothing else like the adrenaline of receiving a reward that makes the positive return of praise, reaching goals, or doing the right thing more memorable.

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Since our appetite for rewards changes as we get older and more mature, gold star stickers and candy should stay in the classroom. It’s crucial to stay evolving with your team to increase employee engagement.

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Along with modern rewards, you also need modern methods. But does a recognition solution like this even exist?

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If you answered with an employee rewards program, you are correct (here’s a gold star — just kidding.)

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Employee rewards programs positively impact employee retention and make performance management fun for leadership. Think of it as a game for the employee and employer with different objectives but the same satisfying feeling of accomplishment.

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You, as the leader, enjoy the increase in employee growth and actions aligned with company values. In contrast, your team enjoys accomplishing personal and performance growth disguised as rewards.

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Let’s Get Started: Setting Up Your Rewards Program

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Let’s check out the general steps you should take when creating and maintaining an employee reward program.

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Use a Survey

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Poll the experts — your employees. You won’t know what will motivate your team the most until you ask.

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An easy way to do this is by sending a Slack message (or whatever messaging software you use) to team members with a link to an online survey. Remember to keep it anonymous so your employees won’t feel reluctant to submit ideas.

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Ask specific questions to help guide responses, such as the following:

• What motivates you the most?some text
  • For example, fun events, monetary rewards, time off, or social recognition.
• How long should a rewards program last?some text
  • For example, a month, quarter, year, or ongoing.
• What do you need the most motivation for?some text
  • For example: hitting sales targets, obtaining new clients, or reaching a new career milestone.
• What type of rewards system do you prefer?some text
  • For example, company-wide contests, incentives, a personal structure to challenge themselves, or teams vs. teams.

You can use the examples we gave here in a multiple-choice format or leave it open-ended.

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Determine a Budget

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Setting a budget is crucial to setting realistic expectations for you and your employees and will also help structure the program.

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Once you have considered the employee-submitted ideas, start grouping common entry types into themes. Determine which themes will accommodate your budget.

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Identify Meaningful Rewards

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Once you’ve established the rewards system, time frame, and budget, it’s time for the fun part — determining the reward. Make it easy on yourself and keep it simple — a meaningful reward can also be easy.

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Prizes don’t have to be complicated, expensive, or grandiose. A meaningful reward will make your employees' lives easier or be a perk they couldn’t obtain otherwise.

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Examples of valuable rewards can include:

• Gift cards: The functionality of gift cards is famously easy. Make it even easier with instant digital delivery with Prezzee eGift cards. With options like Target, Chevron, HelloFresh, Airbnb, and hundreds more in Prezzee’s catalog, you can send your employees rewards they’ll actually use.
• Performance swag: Whether we want to admit it or not, a new wireless keyboard can be exhilarating. A customized mousepad with an image of their pet? Even better. You’ll earn some brownie points by providing an option to make their workday a little easier.
• Extra PTO day: Some may say an extra day off might be more valuable than a monetary reward. (Check with your human resources contact first to ensure that granting additional PTO days is approved.)

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Make Program Onboarding Fun

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The onboarding process is the preview of the program and the first opportunity to draw your employees in, so don’t present it with the same energy as any regular meeting.

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You can even reward those paying extra attention to amp up the anticipation.

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Fun program onboarding ideas include:

• Hosting an in-office team breakfast to kick off the event.
• Send digital “You’re invited” invitations with instructions on how to get started.
• Hold a “surprise party” disguised as a meeting (bonus for masking it with a notoriously boring meeting name). Instead, introduce the program and bring the hype with what rewards and gifts they can start working towards.

Tip: Begin the program on the same day it’s announced. You will want to capitalize on the momentum of the excitement to get your team signed up and ready to participate as soon as possible.

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Ask for Employee Feedback

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Asking for feedback is an essential step in ensuring the adoption of your program. It’s always a good idea to keep your employees in the loop to keep them involved and further invested in the reward system. When a teammate feels like they are being heard, they are much more likely to stay engaged and participate.

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Try periodically emailing a survey link to your team’s distro list to monitor the program’s effectiveness and perception. You can use a ranking system (1 through 5 is best), multiple choice of provided answers, or an open reply box for responses.

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Examples of questions you can use for the survey include:

• What about this program is keeping you motivated?
• What would you like to see continued? Discontinued?
• What is a feature or roadblock of the program that is hindering your usage, if any?
• What’s one feature you wish could be added to the reward platform?
• Does the timeframe of when points must be earned to redeem prizes work for you? Why or why not?
• Do you enjoy working independently towards rewards, or would you rather join forces in groups? (or vice versa)
• What are more ways you’d like included as opportunities to earn points? Are there any service awards you’d like to incorporate?

Look at critical themes across the board — what do most responses have in common? Don’t throw away outlier answers: This is an opportunity to understand what certain employees may need differently to be set up for success.

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Rewarding With a Points System

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Once you’ve decided what metrics you will be giving points for (for instance, meeting a monthly sales goal or obtaining a client), consider using a points-based system to cash in for rewards.

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Keep a rewards catalog handy — both digitally and physically — to allow employees to identify what they want to work towards and reference to stay motivated.

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Once ready to trade points for what they’ve had their eye on, use Prezzee eGift Cards as an instant reward delivery tool (with no delivery fees) — the game aims to keep the cause-effect immediate.

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Additionally, if you go with Prezzee’s Smart eGift Card, you give your employees the ultimate swap card. The Smart eGift Card allows recipients to choose where to spend their eGift Card from the over 370 brands and retailers in the Prezzee catalog — the perfect choice for any employee.

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Immediate Rewards Boost Rewards

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When you award an employee immediately, it signals their hard work is associated with something good. Positive reinforcement works best when given immediately — with people and pets! The shorter the time between meeting the goal and the praise, the bigger the impact.

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Combat Short-Lived Excitement

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It’s the human body’s job to maintain a state of homeostasis to keep us stable.

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After the adrenaline of vigorous exercise, feeling the stress from driving in traffic, or even the happy excitement of walking into our surprise birthday party, your mind and body are constantly trying to maintain a level of balance. With how our body works, excitement can be a fleeting emotion.

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Therefore, it’s imperative to keep the excitement flowing with frequent opportunities to keep earning, such as bonus points occasions.

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The Power of Bonus Points

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It’s a great idea to give bonus points that don’t tie to work performance to fight homeostasis and show employees that they are valued for who they are — not just what they do.

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We all have days when we’re off our game, but a good manager ensures their team is human; performance results will naturally ebb and flow. Highlight the power that each personality brings to the table by utilizing bonus points to celebrate your team.

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Bonus point ideas include:

• Employee birthdays: Give them a birthday gift they’ll actually use — reward points. Plus, the fact that their employer not only remembered their birthday but took action towards it will have a memorable impact on their employee experience. Prezzee offers customizable eGift Cards to personalize your rewards to any occasion with a video, image, or note of appreciation, celebration, and encouragement.
• ‍Work anniversaries: Feeling valued is a huge personal motivator. Sometimes, showing someone they are an appreciated part of the team can be just as effective as a reward. Do both by granting bonus points to celebrate work anniversaries.‍
• Exemplifying company core values: Reward in real-time with kudos points when you see an employee promoting a positive company culture.

You might want to limit these to one-on-one interactions to avoid unnecessary fairness debates. After all, this should be an award based on the character behind closed doors, not for public optics.

• Peer-to-peer recognition: Colleagues don’t often have the chance to formally showcase their appreciation for each other. Recognize a teammate of the week (or month) chosen for the employees by the employees.

Ask for peer-only nominations based on camaraderie, teamwork, or character, and then hold a vote. Award the winner with bonus points to show love.

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Employee Rewards Platforms

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It’s important to consolidate your team’s progress in one place for easy access and organization. An excellent recognition tool to consider is the use of employee recognition software.

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These systems help automate rewarding your employees to prevent great work from slipping through the cracks.

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How Do Employee Recognition Platforms Work?

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Software for employee recognition programs are tools that help management understand and monitor metrics that are not quantitative, like numbers.

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A strong leader strives to understand his team’s qualitative stats — employee satisfaction, motivation levels, and feelings of being valued — just as much as their business numbers.

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Employee recognition software options help monitor, analyze, and report back on the ever-evolving state of your team. They also host reward programs to keep your team’s happiness levels running smoothly.

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Aspects of reward software to consider:

• Does it integrate with communication platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, or similar?
• Who can shout out who? Can only managers shout out direct reports? Or can praise be lateral through the ranks? Both have their merits, but one might work better for your specific company.
• What’s your budget? Pricing may vary based on your needs and the size of your company.

Tip: If you can’t decide between platforms, ask if you can sign up for a free demo or trial version to better understand what will work best for you.

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Rewarding With the Ease of Prezzee

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No matter what direction you want to take your employee rewards program, Prezzee is a partner you can depend on to deliver not only eGift cards but employee satisfaction.

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With hundreds of popular retailers, Prezzee Business also gives your conscious an eco-friendly high five by avoiding the plastic waste of a traditional gift card.

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Shop by and browse our ever-growing collection of eGift cards today to get a flash of inspiration imagining what your employee’s future points exchange will feel like. Sign up today and see the rewards tomorrow!

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Sources:

‍It’s about time: Immediate rewards boost motivation | Cornell Chronicle‍

What is Homeostasis? | Scientific American‍

Positive Reinforcement and Operant Conditioning: Examples | Verywell Mind

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