Rewarding employees is something that some bosses overlook. When confronted with Peggy Olson’s claim that he “never says thank you,” Don Draper replied with “that’s what the money is for.”
But salary isn’t the thing that says thank you – it’s the recognition that you’ve done the basics and you should want more than that from your employees.
If you want to get the most from your workers then you really need to thank them, and you do that by giving them rewards beyond their salary.
I’ll give you three great ways that you can say thank you to your employees. In each example, your employees will show their recognition by working even harder for your company.
The status symbol of a company car
A company car is one of the preferred methods of rewarding employees for many business owners – up to 40% of employers offer this benefit to their workers.
And there’s a good reason to pick this reward option. Why? Because it benefits both you and the people that work for you.
It’s good for your employees because it’s a status symbol – it’s a four-wheeled advertisement of the fact that they’re doing well at work.
It’s great for you because it offers greater control over your business processes.
The reason for this is that your employees feel indebted to you. It’s also because you can use things like fuel cards to track how your workers are using their vehicles, such as how long they’re really taking to visit clients.
If you’re going to invest in a fuel card then it’s important you pick the right one. Using a comparison site like iCompario lets you input the requirements of your business so that you get the options that best serve your unique needs.
Achievable performance-related bonuses
Performance-related bonuses aren’t a new idea – they’ve been used by lots of companies for many, many years to reward employees.
But lacking originality doesn’t make them a bad idea. There’s a reason they’re so popular and it’s that both you and your workers get the spoils of them.
It’s simple: your employees get more money, and more money is what your business gets from them.
The reason for this is that your staff work harder and deliver more results – hence the performance-related part of the deal – bringing in more cash for your company.
The key to implementing these rewards is that they have to be achievable – you won’t incentivize your employees to do anything if they feel like there’s no amount of effort they put in that will get them their bonus.
A clear career progression path
Some people go to work just to get their paycheck. And there’s nothing wrong with that for them – for you (their employer) on the other hand, there is something wrong with that.
Want to know what it is? Let me explain.
People doing the basics will deliver basic results. That means basic profits, basic growth, and basic dividends – it’s not a model you want to base your business on.
Getting the hiring right is one way to extract more from your employees won’t always work (bad eggs can slip into the basket). What’s necessary is to tease more from your workers and you can do that by offering them a clear career path, one that progresses them to a higher status and salary.
Give your employees a clear career path that offers them the chance to earn more and be more important and that gives them a reason to invest in your business – because you’re investing in you.
The return you get from this is simple – higher quality staff without having to spend money on new hires (like I said, hiring doesn’t always spot the best candidates).
Recommended reading: Are You Productive or Just Busy?
A company car, performance-related bonuses, and a clear path of career progression are just three of the great rewards you can reward your employees – another brilliant one is organizing team outings.
Whichever of these you choose for your employees is your call and it really depends on what sort of business you’re in. If you’re in insurance sales then you might have a different preference than people in the renewable energy industry.
What’s important is that you do reward your workers, because if you do then you’ll get more out of them and that means more rewards for your company,
