Do you remember how every time our parents needed us to do something such as house chores or completing homework, they would instantly tempt us with a reward?
“If you do this, I would get you the dress you wanted/ the chocolate you love/ the toy you wanted” This is a reward-based or incentive-based strategy utilised for multiple purposes. This psychological strategy works by motivating and luring the human mind into the appeal of a reward, which can be easily theirs provided the work is done successfully.
Human resource management or HRM makes use of these reward-based positive reinforcement techniques to get the best results out of their employee workforce. Some of the major strategies include:
- Initiation of reward vs. recognition competition to ensure that employees gear towards what they need the most. For example, at a surveyed company, 32% of employees geared towards recognition, while 58% geared towards reward programs. Hence we can conclude that a majority of the employees would prefer a program, which has a reward system to it on completion, rather than a program that only compensates with recognition after the completion of the work. Hence statistically speaking, employees would like to be more rewarded than recognised.
- High utilisation of gamification techniques and HRM policies like leading from the top. 78% of surveyed employees registered a higher job satisfaction level when recognised or rewarded on a peer to peer basis. Thus, employees like to be reviewed and evaluated with respect to their colleagues and peers. It’s obvious that competition has always riven excellence among us mankind. This works here too, as it gives them a certain level of satisfaction to outperform their peers in the competitive office environment.
- The integration of positive reinforcement techniques like mentorship programs and recreational programs also registered to have a positive influence on job satisfaction for 66% of surveyed employees.
Developing new strategies apart from the existing ones could also ensure the smooth functioning of the company. Developing new employee recognition programs could have the following criteria:-
- The ability to administer or support change.
- Systems improvements.
- Customer or client preservation.
- Morale-construction.
To develop these strategies a company should formulate certain policies that would be acted upon during the employee recognition program. These policies include the criteria an employee should fall into to be judged for further appraisal. These policies also keep in mind the types of gifts, prizes or incentives which can be provided to well-performing candidates would. To avoid ambiguity, there can be clear guidelines such as:
- The approval procedure.
- Employee eligibility criteria.
- The types of reward that shall be provided.
- The regularity of reward presentations.
These types of policies could ensure a safe and healthy workplace, and a healthy professional satisfaction for both, the employer and the employee. These increments and gifts could also be given in the form of online gift cards for shopping, food or travel which can be purchased from websites like GRS GCodes.
Statistics show that almost 66% of surveyed employees report that they have never received any form of recognition for their efforts at work. Thus, HR management could use certain practices based on studies about leadership models such as:
- Providing a personal approach towards positive reinforcement and creation of reward-based short and long term goals.
- Widening the net of opportunity and getting senior management to recognise and publicise the achievements of the sector of employees working for them directly.
- Facilitate positive peer to peer recognition and provide opportunities for employees to showcase private hobbies and passions.
- Raise the bar by creating an annual trophy or free vacation tickets to be awarded to people having high distinctions and achievements.
These gamification techniques along with positive reinforcement techniques go a long way to ensure that employees have a good level of job satisfaction. The tips outlined above are starting points that you could use to start a reward program at your organisation.
