subject: 5 Steps To Rewarding Employees With Company Gifts [print this page] Beyond the holidays, you can motivate employees with company gifts by offering them as rewards for particular achievements. Be deliberate, however, with your gift giving, because a gift given wrongly can alienate rather than encourage. Here is a five-step guide to recognizing outstanding employees with company gifts.
1. First, establish clear goals that employees must meet in order to be awarded with company gifts. Imagine that Christina receives a company gift at her job selling textiles. She walks into work one day, and there it is, sitting on her desk: a new briefcase with a tag that reads, To Christina, from Walker Textiles. Great job this month! There are many things wrong with this scenario, the first being that employers should never give rewards based on vague, subjective criteria. Great job this month! hardly rings sincere to Christina, since she doesnt know what in particular she did that was so great, or why she deserves a company gift this month but didnt the last. Since a specific person hasnt signed the card she has no idea who decided that she deserves the award. She wonders if the gift will turn out to be leverage to get her to do something or compensation for a dropped bonus. Furthermore, she feels incredibly uncomfortable as her coworkers repeatedly ask what the company gift is for and wonder why they didnt receive one. By establishing a deadline and concrete criteria for giving out company gifts, you ensure that there is neither any favoritism regarding the contest, nor is there the appearance of it. Employees know exactly what will earn them the company gift, and everyones performance will improve in striving for it.
2. Second, decide which employees deserve to be awarded company gifts. Any employee who meets the specified criteria should be awarded. This may mean that you have to spend more than you thought on company gifts, but it will also encourage you to raise the standards next time. As long as everyone has a fair chance to earn the company gift there can be no accusations of favoritism and no bitter feelings towards the recipients.
3. Third, present the company gifts publicly. Stage a special event -- whether a company party, a dinner out, or simply a half hour at the end of the workday -- to award the winners with their company gifts. By presenting the awards publicly, you can state specifically the kind of performance that earns company gifts. As much as awards ceremonies honor the recipients, they benefit bystanders even more. By putting the winner on stage, you present her as an example for her coworkers. Furthermore, Christina will feel that she truly deserves the company gift because some ceremony is being made about giving it to her.
4. Fourth, have the managers present the company gifts. Human Resources specialists have devised something called the 50/30/20 rule: 50 percent of an employees recognition should come from his manager, 30 percent from his coworkers, and 20 percent from the business. Christina would have taken her company gift more seriously had she received it from someone who worked closely with her and knew her specific achievements, rather than the nebulous Walker Textiles. If your company has an Employee of the Month contest, it is essential that coworkers nominate the Employee of the Month, and that they include specific reasons for the nomination. That way, if the CEO presents the company gift -- an honor indeed -- he is able to numerate the reasons for Christinas recognition and thereby validate the award. An excellent way to do this is to collect praise from Christinas managers and coworkers, then cite them during the presentation.
5. Finally, be sure to accompany the gift with verbal or written praise. A simple thank you goes a long way, and company gifts are meaningless unless they stand for the gratitude of the giver. You are never obligated to give a company gift, so dont act like you are. Even if the praise seems obvious -- Christina won the sales contest; she should know why shes getting this award -- tack it on anyway. Praise is a huge contributor to employee retention and motivates employees to work their hardest with enthusiasm.
by: Acree Graham
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