Innovative ways through which organizations can reward employees

Honesty and integrity form the pillars of workplace whether it is a small establishment or a big company. The success of any business house is subject to the credibility quotient of its employees. Having a moral works in the best interest of both employees and the employers.

Business is based on trust. The growth of a company or institution, thus, depends on the degree of trust it has managed to generate in the minds of the clientele. In today’s work atmosphere, where the efficiency of the company in its day-to-day operations marks its growth as the noteworthy competitor changes in structure and direction with a little resistance as possible from the employees becomes necessary. This can be achieved with honesty, trust and respect.

Building a level of trust is a two way deal with equal contribution from the management and the staff. Speaking the truth starts from day one – right from the day a resume is submitted. The resume should have correct information and there should not be any falsified enhancement. There are ways in which the HR cross checks the credentials of the prospective candidate.

A call to the person’s former employee to counter check his / her behavior and work interaction with his / her colleagues as well as the veracity of qualifications and references is a must for most companies.

A computer engineering graduate aspiring to be an entrepreneur feels that the Satyam fraud was an eye-opener for most people, who believed that top level executives of huge corporate houses could do no wrong. But, imagine the poor employee having to witness or even just hear of the unethical approach of his / her erstwhile boss. Being honest remains a challenge.

It then becomes imperative to step back when asked to be a part of a dishonest activity. One has to be firm, follow one’s conscience and learn to refuse politely. While there is no denying the fact that this may lead to some discomfiture, it results in admiration and increased respect in the long run.

A BPO employee, rightly points out, Mutual respect is an important tool in the progress of a company, and it is only honesty that helps build this. Being committed can take you long way. There are instances when we see colleagues using the office phone for personal use, or surfing the Internet during office hours. These may seem inconsequential, but they do contribute to how you measure up as a colleague. Strong ethics, hard work and commitment can forge a lasting relationship the work.

Two experts suggest innovative ways through which organizations can reward employees through tangible benefits, even during the current scenario:

If they have budgeted for bonuses, then I think this will be a better option than giving raises. Assign your employees targets that are well beyond (but not unattainable) expected targets. If your employees meet these targets, then reward them with bonuses. You will only have to spend when your employees do work that is beyond their call of duty. And if you do your math right, you will be ahead by a larger margin when you employ this system.

Recognition programs are generally not cash based by nature. This program caters to the psychological benefit of the employees as opposed to a reward system catering to the financial benefit of the employees. Examples of such include holding recognition events, giving employee of the month or year of recognition, publishing a company wide report which features the hardworking employees, and finally public recognition boards. You can also certain allowances for the said employee, for example: allowing him or her to adjust his / her work schedule etc.

Another way is to provide stock options to high performing employees. Employee stock option programs allow employees to buy a specific number of shares at an agreed upon price.

Provide long term benefits: We need to look at it from both, the long term and short term. When one speaks of the long term, especially in these troubled times, it becomes imperative that we keep the employee interested motivated and wanting to come back to work every morning. The focus should be in terms of adding value and elf worth to the individual. Scholarships, programs through sponsorship or reimbursements may help. Secondly, look at providing opportunities where they are included in a number of initiatives and interventions in cross functional and organization wide initiatives. Nominating them for prestigious seminar, paper presentations opportunities etc will have a long term impact on the employee psyche

Provide short term benefits: For the short term one should look at the on spot reward and recognition schemes which will make a huge difference for the employee to feel good. A pat on the back, tea with the CEO, certificates, etc. are simple but extremely cost effective steps to rewards the employee.
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