8 Great Employee Reward and Recognition Strategies

To retain your best employees, you must find fresh, interesting, and meaningful ways to reward and recognize their contributions. Here are eight cutting-edge employee reward and recognition strategies to reinvigorate your team.

• 3-Days or Less: Give rewards within three days of the employee behavior. Immediate recognition is the best. Close the gap between the employee’s action and their reward—the sooner the better.
• U-da-Model: You are your team’s role model in how and when to recognize great performance. If you want to create a powerful recognition culture, you must walk-the-talk and set the tone. Your team is looking to you to lead the way. Do something today!
• 50% Rule: Ensure that 50% or more of all employee rewards and recognitions clearly align with your company’s core mission. For example, if you are a service-driven company, then half or more of all recognitions should be given for driving great service. If you are process-driven, then half or more should be given for driving process improvement.
• F2F > Digital: Face-to-face recognition is always more powerful than impersonal electronic communications. Whenever possible, personally give the recognition, even if it has to be a telephone call.
• Hand Notes > Digital: A personal, hand-written note is perhaps the easiest, fastest, and most powerful employee recognition tool available to leaders. Take two minutes now and jot a thank you to someone who deserves a fast thank you.
• You Generated – Ø System Generated: Company-sponsored recognitions (Employee of the Month, Salesman of the Year) are less effective than those you personally invent and distribute. Get creative. How can you generate a fun, flexible reward that is meaningful to your team? Take some risks. Have some fun.
• Personalize It: You know that Steve, a top employee, loves baseball, the color blue, and ice cream. After Steve goes above and beyond the call of duty, why not buy him three blue helium balloons, wrap them around two box seats to your local baseball team (major or minor league), and give him $20 for all the ice cream he can eat at the park! Do you think this would mean more to Steve than another “Employee of the Month” certificate?
• Team Up: Ask a team of volunteers to team up and create fresh, fun and exciting rewards programs. Give them a small budget and the instructions to do something within one week. Get them started and don’t let them stop!

Integrate these eight employee reward and recognition strategies into your daily leadership behaviors to motivate and retain your best employees.