Article: Non-Monetary Rewards - Driving force for your employees

Compensation & Benefits

Non-Monetary Rewards - Driving force for your employees

Innovation is a buzz word today, not only in creation of new products and services but also in the way companies engage with their employees
 

The shelf life of a non monetary reward like a trophy or a certificate is substantially higher as it is likely to add pride to the employee

 

Innovation is the buzzword in the corporate world today – innovation not only in creation of new products and services but innovation also, in the way companies engage with their employees.

Today compensation benchmarks for his/ her industry are available to a HR Manager at the click of a button. Matching the CTC to P50 levels is becoming par for the course in industry verticals which are highly competitive. Hence the HR Manager needs to be more innovative in his efforts to achieve the elusive stickiness in his employees. This is where non-monetary rewards are increasingly becoming the key differentiator.

Non-monetary rewards straddle the entire space between a public appreciation to getting a posting to a location of choice. These rewards, wherever they are linked to a “prestige” factor, like getting nominated to a core team which will design the future strategy of the company can be very motivating for the workforce. Some of the rewards like well maintained company holiday homes in key destinations like Goa or Shimla, posting to a preferred location, flexi timings etc. can be good enough reason for an employee preferring to stay back in a company, against other factors like compensation.

The shelf life of a non monetary reward like a trophy or a certificate is substantially higher as it is likely to add pride to the employee by sitting on their table and reminding them of how they were feted. With very well developed Employee Rewards & Recognition platforms now available, employees cherish for the pride of their names being known across a large organisation through frequent appreciation in the recognition platform which is accessed by all. The monetary component of the reward may be small, but the pride of the entire organisation getting to know of the achievement of the employee through the R & R portal, is immense.

One of the biggest non-monetary rewards that employees have repeatedly stated as their reason to like a company is the opportunity to learn and grow. A company which is on a constant growth path provides immense opportunity to the employee to learn new skills and grow. Also organizations which have a culture of structured training programs both functional and behavioral are cherished by employees.

Flexible working hours are also appreciated by the employees - though this may not be feasible in all work environments, at the managerial and senior levels where the emphasis is on completion of a task within a stipulated time, it is possible to allow select employees to work from home when they have an exigency. This would go a long way in keeping the workforce happy as the rest of the staff also see it as a positive facility that they can avail when they need it the most.

While understanding people are the key for winning organizations, Work- Life benefits are effective tools towards making employees happy. Work-Life benefits require the management to bring in empathy and the human element into the rewards. Some examples of Work-Life benefit would include:

• Food @ Work: Cafeteria, Meal Vouchers – which offer the flexibility to the employee to choose a menu of her choice

• Healthcare : Preventive Healthcare

• EAP: Employee Assistance Programs

• Courses/ programs which help employees to de-stress or to live a more meaningful life like Art of Living / Personal Effectiveness courses

Empowerment is another key non-monetary reward that can motivate employees substantially. It is often seen that some of the medium sized organizations provide for greater autonomy and empowerment to their employees compared to large or small organizations. Employees cherish the fact that they can take critical decisions involving the company and its customers and are more satisfied when they are able to bring a smile to their customers without having to wait for approvals from somebody who is far removed from the scene of action

Companies that focus on non-monetary rewards and invest adequately in devising ways to acknowledge and involve their employees, and provide an environment of development and recognition, will be able to differentiate themselves and are likely to become the cherished places to work.
 

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Topics: Compensation & Benefits, #Retention, #TotalRewards

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