Has productivity reached a low point? Are there more accidents that are contributing to the slowing of progress? Is morale just a wee bit low amongst your crew of workers? Employees like rewards on the side. A paycheck only goes so far to validate how important they are to the business. Rewarding them lets them know you are watching what they are doing and they will want to do more.
Here are some ideas on rewards that can make your productivity skyrocket:
End-of-Year Awards
Consider treating your employees to an awards event at the end of the fiscal year. Make it like the Oscars, but with less glitz and glamour, to acknowledge all their hard work and how they contributed to the business. Honor your management, the employee who went above and beyond their duties, the salesperson who broke a record, and the marketing team who came up with an amazing plan that helped the business grow in innumerable ways. Award companies, like EDCO, can help you customize your awards ceremonies to recognize all the people you need to honor.
Bonuses Never Hurt
You may think that a paycheck is enough but consider the power of competing for a bonus. Some manufacturing companies, such as Jacob Holm Industries, offers an incentive through a competition to meet specific goals set by the company each year. They cover everything from safety to cleanliness, from sales goals to marketing plans. Every employee gets a piece of the pie when they work together to achieve those goals. You can set this type of goal to be quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
Employee Appreciation Day
Consider setting aside a day in which you just say “Thank You” to your employees in the company. Many companies opt for a picnic in the summer, so that there is a bit of a break and good food provided in the bellies of your workers. It could be a bit more extravagant where the family is invited and there are games and bouncy houses, sort of like a carnival. Other companies have chosen to use holidays as their way to show appreciation. Some will offer a holiday meal with the higher ups serving the employees, bonuses, and gifts, or extra time off to spend with family. Other companies have found ways to use Employee Appreciation Day as a way to combine some fun and team building. Team building allows for bonding and strength to grow in a team. This may be sending them out for a day of kayaking or white-water rafting, rock climbing, or doing something artsy like pottery or painting.
Bring Fitness to the Office
Productivity can slow down for a ton of reasons and one of those reasons can be a result of unhealthy habits. Encouraging a bit of fitness, combined with a competition, can bring your team together for positive reinforcement. This could be that a team of you enter a local 5k and you host your own awards for time results. You could have a traditional 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner. Keep track of each year’s running time records and see who can beat the faster runner from previous years and offer them a reward. You can check with local businesses who may want to offer a donation of a prize for your winners and encourage your employees to support those local businesses. You can also conduct a weight loss competition to encourage healthy habits. Tap into the inner beast and create mini challenges such as longest plank, how many wall pushups one can do, or the most jumping jacks in 30 seconds.
There are tons of ways to incorporate small things into the workplace culture to keep your productivity on top. What have you done recently that showed results? What are you hoping to add in the future?