The delivery staff in any organization act as a conduit between the business and its customers. Being an important part of the workforce of an organization, it is key to create an effective employee rewards and recognition program for the delivery staff to appreciate and laud their efforts.
Understanding the Profile of Delivery Staff
In order to develop an appropriate employee rewards program for its delivery staff, the organization first needs to understand them better. In most cases, the delivery staff comprises of young professionals in their early or mid-20s, with basic educational qualifications.
However, despite their limited academic background, they are generally tech-savvy and are active on various mobile and social media apps. Almost all delivery staff are proficient in the use of different apps to keep track of the orders to be picked up and delivered by them.
Understanding the profile of the delivery staff makes it easier for organizations to reward and recognize them in the right way.
Challenges of Setting up a Recognition Program
When it comes to setting up an employee recognition program for their delivery staff, organizations are usually unsure about what would work best. This is because the profile of these employees is significantly different from their white-collared counterparts (of which the HR team is a part). Also, it seems unclear how their contribution towards the organization growth and success can be measured.
However, without an efficient and effective delivery team, products and services would not reach their customers in time and would negatively impact the goodwill and credibility of the business. Hence, recognizing their efforts and dedication, is essential for ensuring great customer experience.
Given that the work profile of delivery staff is significantly different from other employees of an organization, the rewards and recognition program developed for them should take that into consideration.
Here are a few best practices that organizations can consider to come up with an effective recognition program for their delivery staff:
1. Reward based on Customer Feedback
Organizations can set up a system to seek customer feedback about their interaction and experience with the delivery person. The organizations can request customers to answer a couple of questions specific to the behavior and attitude of the delivery person and ask them to rate the experience on a fixed scale.
Organizations should set up a reward system to acknowledge members of the delivery staff who receive consistently high customer ratings and generally good feedback at the end of each week or fortnight.
2. Recognize for Delivery Timeliness
There are different challenges that the delivery staff face that can result in a delay in completing a delivery. This can impact customer satisfaction and prospects of future business negatively. Hence, it is essential for an organization to recognize the efforts and commitment of the delivery staff members, who make it a point to deliver the products or services on time consistently, even against all odds.
This helps in promoting the sense of responsibility and commitment among other delivery personnel and improves the overall efficiency of the entire team.
3. Acknowledge Good Behavior and Personality Traits
Most customers feel happy and satisfied upon interacting with delivery personnel, who are well-groomed and well-behaved. Receiving their orders from someone having poor dressing sense, shabby appearance, improper behavior or poor communication skills often leave the customers feeling agitated and disappointed.
That is why it is important for organizations to promote hygiene, etiquette and even personality development among the members of its delivery staff. The best way to do so is by rewarding employees reflecting such qualities, which in turn can lead to enhanced customer satisfaction.
5. Use a Digital Recognition Platform
Since the delivery staff are young and reasonably digitally savvy, using a digital employee recognition platform should be an important aspect of the recognition program. The recognition platform should be integrated with the customer feedback system and the delivery tracking system enabling those delivery staff who get high customer ratings and deliver on time, on consistent basis to get rewarded automatically.
The platform should enable supervisors to reward and recognize staff member who display positive behavior and attitude and have gone the extra mile to fulfill their deliveries on time. The platform should have elements of gamification such as awards, badges, reward points, leaderboard and wall of fame, to drive excitement and participation among the members of the delivery staff.
6. Use Combination of Monetary and Non Monetary Awards
Given that the base salary levels of the delivery staff are not very high, rewards with monetary benefits are likely to be perceived to be more attractive to them. Cash incentives and bonuses, gift cards, electronic gadgets, motor bikes, recharge vouchers, gaming vouchers, movie vouchers, and pizza vouchers should work well as rewards for programs targeted at the delivery staff.
Monetary rewards can be combined with non monetary awards that are perceived to be of value by the delivery staff. These could include extra paid leave, paid time-off, wearables such as badges, stars, caps, etc. and even sponsored educational programs.
7. Use Social Media and Customer Apps to Announce Recognition
A majority of members of the delivery staff are active on mobile apps and social media. Hence, platforms such as Facebook can be used to acknowledge and appreciate their hard work and dedication. This gives them the social visibility among their peers and help in enhancing employee engagement levels of the workforce.
Organizations could also share words of praise for their delivery personnel and their profile images on the customer apps, giving them further social recognition and instilling a sense of pride and satisfaction for their work and their contribution to the organization.
Read about the Best Rewards and Recognition for Blue-Collared Employees
Bottom-line
The members of the delivery staff form a key segment of the organization’s workforce. Hence, they need to be appreciated and rewarded for their performance, dedication and commitment towards the organization.
Hence, organizations should formulate effective employee rewards and recognition systems especially targeted towards them.
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