Rewards and Recognition in the Workplace

We were having a chat in the office recently about a “Fun Run” that some of us participated in. One of the team were disappointed that they did not receive a medal for completing the run. I was happy not to have the medal as it was just another piece of junk on my desk. I liked having the T Shirt that I could wear, so people would know that I had completed the fun run.

It occurred to me that everyone likes to be rewarded or recognised differently. You can apply the same thought processes to your business. How does your team like rewards and recognition in the workplace?

Rewards and Recognition in the Workplace – The Workplace Mix

In a recent Gartner survey 46% of employees reported feeling unhappy and disengaged at work. So clearly employee satisfaction is not only about how much employees get paid. For some employees their remuneration package is very important. For many though, how they are appreciated makes a big difference.

Do your team like to be verbally praised, to receive a gift/bonus, a shake of the hand when you thank them, you spending time with them, or you asking ‘how are you going’ or ‘can I do anything to help you?’

Everyone is Different

Gary Chapman wrote a book called “The 5 Love Languages”. Dr Chapman writes about how people like to be communicated with and how they receive information on their value to you. If you replace “Love” with “Appreciation” you can apply the principles to your workplace.

We have all been frustrated from time to time when team members give feedback that they don’t feel valued.

Recently we have done some employee culture surveys. Some of our employers have been disappointed with the answer to the question: “I feel valued by my manager”. Some “agreeing” and some “disagreeing”. On deeper review, the manager treated everyone the same way. Which you would think would be the right thing to do right? Think again!

Verbally announcing at the team meeting that Joe did a good job is not as meaningful to Joe as sitting down with him once a month to talk about how things are going. But Mary, loves the verbal praise and being acknowledged in front of her peers, and finds it uncomfortable when you want to sit down with her once a month. Bill is all about the coffee gift card and Tom loves it when you say thanks and shake his hand, and Sue feels valued when you offer to make her a cup of coffee.

Everyone is different. Everyone dances to the beat of a different drum.

When you understand how a person likes to receive information and what they consider important you can focus on meeting them where they are at.

Understanding Your Employees

The statistics show that employees are more likely to be satisfied and remain loyal when management takes the time to deliver a message of genuine care to their employees.

How? Take the time to get to know your team better, through Behavior Profiling tools such as DISC, Personality Profiles and the 5 Love Language quiz. It can help you communicate more effectively with and to your team.

For greater effect, conducting a workshop in which the team come together to understand themselves and each other and how to communicate more effectively at work and at home.

If you would like to learn more about rewards and recognition in the workplace and want to wrap your head around some of these concepts by reading Dr Chapmans book on The 5 Love Languages, Florence Littauer’s Personality Plus, get in touch with our HR consulting team on (07) 3630 5695 to talk about our workshops and how we incorporate all of these concepts through DISC behavior profiling into a program focused on Leading Engaged Teams.