After the festive period, it can sometimes be difficult to motivate employees about returning to work. However, with January comes a whole new year of potential, and a few well thought-out motivational techniques can go a long way towards getting your employees fired up about the year ahead.
Start on a high
The first step to boosting your employees’ morale is by being positive about what the new year brings. The beginning of the year often comes hand-in-hand with new sales targets and strategies, and demonstrating to your employees that you have confidence in their abilities can help to motivate them to get started. Speak to your employees about what your organisation’s aims are for the following year, and the role that they will play within it.
Feed employees’ appetite for success
If you haven’t already, it’s also worth looking at implementing a rewards scheme. One of the most effective methods to encourage employees to work hard is by showing that their efforts and achievements will be recognised and rewarded. To get the most from your rewards scheme, it’s important to choose one that’s well suited to your workforce.
Here are some of the most popular rewards of the moment:
- Reward card
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A reward card scheme is often suitable for providing an ad-hoc reward or gift, such as ‘employee of the month’ or a long service award. Employers can usually choose to award their employees a specific amount, for example, £50, which they can receive on a retailer-specific gift card of their choice. It’s worth choosing a reward card scheme that offers a wide range of gift card choices, enabling employees to choose a reward relevant to them – the more desirable a reward is to someone, the harder they’ll work to achieve it.
- Points based reward scheme
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A points based reward scheme enables employers to reward employees with points for their achievements on an on-going basis, for example, for exceeding a sales target. Employees are then usually given the option of redeeming their points immediately, or saving them up to work towards a wish list. This can help to increase ongoing engagement across the year.
- Peer-to-peer thanks
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Peer-to-peer thanks schemes enable employees to easily show their appreciation of their colleagues by sending a personalised message of thanks or congratulations. This encourages a culture of recognition across all levels of the organisation. Employers choose to provide a further reward for employees who receive regular thanks, for example by entering them into a prize draw.
Rewards are more than just a gesture of appreciation – incentivising employees can have a significant impact on business outcomes. Motivation is a key component for success, and a happy, engaged workforce with pride in their work is much more likely to achieve, providing a valuable return on your investment.
If you would like to find out more on how a rewards scheme could work for your organisation, call Wider Plan on Call Wider Plan: 0800 612 9015 or email business.enquiries@widerplan.com.