Most successful businesses today have a culture of valuing their employees, recognizing and rewarding them for their contributions. However, it takes considerable time, effort, and attention for the actual design of an effective Employee Rewards and Recognition Policy.
The first and foremost thing for developing a recognition and rewards policy is that every organization is unique. Even organizations in the same industry have different operating policies and processes.
So, the recognition policy of the organization should be based on the needs and expectations of its employees. Therefore, to create an effective reward and recognition policy, it is important for organizations to intelligently design the same.
A few key aspects of the design process are as follows:
Identifying the business objectives of the program is the first step in creating an effective employee rewards and recognition policy. Identifying the objectives includes integrating the core values and business objectives of the organization with the rewards program.
In addition, the organization needs to make sure that the policy adheres to the established operating principles and business processes. It is also important to take into consideration the overall workforce profile and diversity.
A recognition policy can be successful only if ensures that every employee gets a fair chance of getting a reward. For this, it is important to clearly define the criteria that employees would have to fulfill to get recognition.
Employees should not think that they can get recognition through flattery or good relationships with their managers or team leaders. Hence, setting meaningful criteria ensures that every employee has a chance to get recognition, irrespective of their level and role.
The criteria should include dedication, hard work, achievements and initiatives of the employees, and even specific behavior patterns.
Organizations need to understand the fact that every employee is different and hence has a different temperament and personality. This essentially means that they value different things and are motivated by different factors.
Since the objective of the recognition is to enhance employee engagement, understanding their motivation needs is of great significance.
The process can be time-consuming and even challenging when performed manually. However, online survey forms can simplify this task and provide the requisite information quickly.
Team leaders, line managers, and supervisors are in the right place to assess the performance, contribution, and achievement of employees. That is why ensuring their greater involvement in the development of an organization’s recognition policy is essential for its success.
This is because supervisors have a good understanding of the contribution of their team members. Their feedback is likely to be more insightful than others who are less involved in the day-to-day operations. Hence, this adds credibility to the decision to reward specific employees without causing dissent among other employees.
Also, the organization needs to have some variety in the employee recognition program. It helps the program retain its novelty for a long and that the employees have something to feel excited about.
This can be through different types of recognition, frequency of recognition, or even new and innovative ideas.
Keeping the above principles in mind and with the right intent, organizations can develop effective rewards and recognition policies that can ensure the happiness and satisfaction of their workforce and result in greater business growth.
Lead author: Sagar Chaudhuri, the Co-Founder and CEO of HiFives. He is an HR Tech Evangelist with over 25 years of experience in the corporate world and entrepreneurship. In the past, Sagar has worked with companies such as Genpact, Infosys, and ICICI Bank, in leadership roles. He has an engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. Connect on LinkedIn
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