Reward Systems

An effective employee reward system for a human services organization should contain items that are acceptable by both the employer and employees. Reward systems are made for both the employee and employer because happy employees make a productive work environment which makes the employer happy. An effective system will have item that are worth going for, which makes the employee more motivated, to do his best work. The employees are almost guaranteed to work more effectively with the right incentives in place.

How a company motivates their employees can affect the whole business, properly motivated employees can improve a business. “Achievement-motivated people are not necessarily motivated by the rewards of success. Motivation is directed more toward accomplishments”(Kettner 2002). A business with weak motivation techniques can produce severe workplace difficulties. Motivation is essential for any business to have objectives in place which gives the employees a feeling of direction. It also gives them a way to assess their performance. It is nearly impossible for employers to inspire employees without some sort of aim or goals. When the goals are recognized then employers can pinpoint ways to motivate employees in different sections.

To make certain the incentive system is efficient and inspires the preferred actions, it is vital to think cautiously about the rewards and approaches used and guarantee the bonuses are associated to or based on how the employee functions. “Well-designed work assignments will ensure meaningful work, achievement, and other such intrinsic rewards” (Kettner 2002). To be successful, any type of assessment system should be attached to rewards or some sort of incentive. Gratifying an employees performance ought to be a continuing business endeavor, not merely a once a year bonus. End of the year bonuses are terrific but something needs to be used for the time in between.

The first thing when designing an employee reward system is to figure out what everyone would like to see as a reward. I believe the best way to accomplish this is to use a polling and voting system. This seems to be the best way because all the employees get to have a say along with the employers. Seeing a reward system that had something the employees voted for would make them feel important and valued.

The main thing for a reward system is to make sure rewards are given in a timely manner. When an employees accomplishments merits rewards the employers should not wait a week or two to reward them because then there is nothing to look forward too. The employee should expect to see his reward, when the time is right. The right timing will make the rewards go quickly and the other employees will work harder to get their own.

Monetary acknowledgments will be provided base don the employees work habit and ethics. “Designing a fair and equitable compensation system requires an analysis of the worth and value of each position to the organization” (Kettner 2002). For example, when an employee shows up to work on time and is efficient, the employee will receive a raise. Another type of recognition would be a gift card or gift certificate for completing the most work or being the employee of the week. Monetary recognition will get employees working hard because everyone can use a little extra money here and there.

Recognition in the ways of non-monetary items would reward the employees without it being too costly. An employee receiving rewards daily for simple accomplishments like completing work early or helping others with their work, for example. There are other rewards than self gratitude that can be awarded for doing good deeds in the work place. For example when an employee stays late to help out a coworker he would receive an award or a gift of some sort.

The employees should have a chance to give awards to their coworkers to make them feel more involved and important. There is nothing better than receiving a reward from a coworker saying what a good job was done on a project. The employees could make an award for their managers, for what good jobs they do or how helpful and friendly they are. Certificates will be the main choice of these operations, these are inexpensive and can be kept for a long time to cherish and remember.

The quality of an employees work will be recognized by ways of non-monetary or monetary recognition. The quality of an employees work is important, what better way to recognize them than to use rewards. These rewards will be based on job performance, which includes customer service and productivity. They can range from money or gift cards to tokens of appreciation depending on the nature of the work.

There is also a need to keep up with other organizations reward plans so the business will not lose employees to better rewarded businesses. The business needs to look at other plans to compare and contrast what they are using for incentives, the better the plan the more likely the employees will stay and continue to work hard. There are businesses that offer things that this business could not even dream of but the key is to work within the means of the company. Do not go over doing the rewards just make them desirable to the employees, see what they would like to have.

A yearly analysis can be fruitful for both employee and employer, the employee can find out if he has done well and the employer can find out the same. Some people fear the yearly analysis but it can have an upside like when an employee is failing in one area of work the employer can have them trained to do better. Most employees like to know their strength and weaknesses, so they can improve on them if necessary. An analysis can sometimes be used as motivation techniques because when an employee does well on the yearly analysis the employee will get rewarded, and when they do not the employee can get the training necessary.

Rewards provide incentives for the employee to work at his best. This promotes good behavior in and out of the work place, which means the positive impact will follow them home. Results of a reward program can increase the company’s profits and results. With the use of a rewards program business will do better and the employees will fell better about working there. Motivating an employee to do his job to the best of his ability can be difficult at times. Plans are put in place to help in the motivation techniques which need to be accepted by the employees as fruitful.

References

Kettner, P. (2002). Achieving excellence in the management of human
service organizations. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.