Member Article

The importance of rewarding your business team

Rewards are popular in the business world (as Lord Sugar has been demonstrating to each week’s successful team on The Apprentice for a decade now) but what role do rewards really have and what choices might you consider?

What do rewards say to the team?

As with The Apprentice, a team which knows from the outset of the project that success will be rewarded is likely to be highly motivated to work towards that success. Whilst The Apprentice is an extreme example because motivation also comes from a fear of failure and that “you’re fired” moment, the fact remains that developing a clear project plan with timescales and rewards is a way of showing the team what they are working towards, for the business and personally.

Similarly, for ad-hoc projects or sudden problems which a team or team-member pulls out all the stops to put right, offering an unexpected reward reflects that you recognise the value of your employees and the efforts they make in helping the company to be successful.

Many companies also include regularly “scheduled” rewards, such as salesperson of the month, but this approach should also be varied to include random thanks yous and extra rewards, otherwise you might find you’re giving the wrong “same-old” message to your team – especially if the more competitive employees seem to always take the credit and claim the reward.

What about the un-rewardables?

Having a management who can identify and reinforce specific employee traits is vital for ensuring that all of your employees have access to the rewards (unexpected or planned) that you are offering. But what if some of your team seem to continually miss out on the rewards you’re offering?

• Consider developing and implementing a full performance management system, which gives your employees the chance to shine in the long term in their own right might be the way forwards, especially if some members of the team continually miss out because there’s a team member who tends to hog the limelight from week to week. This way, individuals can be rewarded for long-term success, even if they have made the odd error or are continually outshone by a workaholic who has nothing else in their life to think about except work.
• Try offering general “thank you” day-out rewards which include team-building challenges or help to develop traits such as problem-solving. Including all members of the team helps to ensure that everyone is rewarded and also offer those who generally achieve rewards less often a way of building their skills and being more motivated to pursue future success. Team challenges are also a great way to help integrate newer employees who are having trouble fitting into an established team.

And this week’s reward is…

Although bonuses and shares in profit are the more popular (and often used) version of rewards systems, sometimes giving a more personal touch can pay more dividends for all of you. Popular contemporary choices include:

• An extra day’s leave or a Friday half-day is a useful reward for long-term good performance and ad-hoc rewards.
• Group rewards such as activity days. Companies such as Team Tactics (www.teamtactics.co.uk) organise these from start to finish so that all your company needs to do is choose an activity which is a suitable reward and book it. Some activities can also be very cost-effective by also providing team-building challenges and improving team work approaches.
• Make it personal. Knowing your team well is not only a way of showing them that you value them as individuals (and not just what they can bring to your business) but is also a way of making sure that the rewards you’re offering fit. So, if you know that one of your team is into gourmet cooking, you’ll know that a great reward would be a chef’s kitchen experience, rather than a paintball challenge. Likewise, gift cards which fit the person’s out of work activities and lifestyle might be considered.

Finally, although it could be argued that a reward, whatever it is, shows that you’re thinking of the team, remember that it takes each and every individual contribution to ensure success. Don’t lose sight of the fact that when it comes to rewards one prize doesn’t fit all and although team events are a great way to thank everyone, these should be balanced with those personal rewards and individual performance perks too!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alex Murray .