The delivery staff in any organization act as a conduit between the business and its customers. Hence, it is important to create an effective employee rewards and recognition program for delivery staff to appreciate their efforts.
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. Delivery staff are generally proficient in the use of mobile apps to keep track of their orders.
Understanding the profile of the delivery staff makes it easier to reward and recognize them in the right way.
While 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. 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. This 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, the rewards and recognition program for them should take that into consideration.
Here are a few best practices that organizations can consider to develop an effective recognition program for their delivery staff:
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 regularly.
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.
Therefore. this helps in promoting the sense of responsibility and commitment among other delivery personnel and improves the overall efficiency.
Most customers feel happy and satisfied upon interacting with delivery personnel, who are well-groomed and well-behaved. Receiving their orders from someone with a poor dressing sense, shabby appearance, improper behavior or poor communication skills often leave the customers feeling agitated and disappointed.
So it is important for organizations to promote hygiene, etiquette and personality development among the members of its delivery staff. The best way to do so is by rewarding employees with such qualities.
Since the delivery staff are young and reasonably digitally savvy, using a digital employee recognition platform should be important. The recognition platform should be integrated with the customer feedback system and the delivery tracking system. This would enable those delivery staff who get high customer ratings and on-time delivery to get rewarded automatically.
The platform should enable supervisors to reward and recognize staff members who display positive behavior and attitude. They should be able to appreciate those that 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, etc. They would drive excitement and participation among the members of the delivery staff.
Moreover, monetary rewards might be perceived to be more attractive to the delivery staff as their base salary level are on the lower side. Cash incentives, gift cards and vouchers, gadgets, etc. should work well as rewards for programs targeted at the delivery staff.
Hence, 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.
Interestingly, a majority of members of the delivery staff are active on mobile apps and social media. Hence, organizations can use platforms such as Facebook 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.
Additionally, organizations could also share words of praise for their delivery personnel and their profile images on the customer apps. This would give them further social recognition and instill a sense of pride and satisfaction.
Read about the Best Rewards and Recognition for Blue-Collared Employees
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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