Will has three direct reports: Anna, Marcos, and Lindsay. Will is looking to reward his employees for going above and beyond with their performance. He talks with his direct reports about what motivates them and what rewards they would enjoy, and this is what he learned.
The Up and Comer
After talking with Anna, Will plans to allow her to stretch herself and take on more interesting and responsible work. He will sit down with her and see if she would like to run a team meeting once in a while. This will allow her to develop her organization and communication skills. Will is going to look for a special project that Anna can work on or a certain topic that she can research and present to the team or another department. She can attend a business seminar of her choosing. Perhaps a relevant business book or online course would be meaningful to her in her career development. Will can also aim to share certain “higher level” information with Anna so that he can help her improve her analytical and strategic skills.
The Kudos Seeker
Marcos is a socializer and receives great satisfaction from public recognition for a job well done. He values working with others and is a team player. He would enjoy having donuts and bagels brought in some mornings. He would appreciate going out to lunch to celebrate certain achievements. He also proudly displays his certificates and other personalized items. Will could utilize these rewards to continue to motivate and recognize Marcos’s accomplishments.
Marcos has also expressed frustration with company bureaucracy on occasion and this is a demotivator that Will could try to minimize. Allowing Marcos great flexibility in certain cases will help eliminate unnecessary job dissatisfaction.
The Work/Life Balance Star
Lindsay has a large family and enjoys spending time with them. A gift certificate to a favorite restaurant or a local experience (museum, festival, etc.) or getting to leave work early would be meaningful rewards to her. A gift certificate to a cleaning service would allow her to spend more time with those she loves. Lindsay also enjoys golfing so a gift certificate to a golf shop is another option.
Will doesn’t have lots of money to spend on his employees but he decided to determine what each of his employees valued to maximize what rewards he could provide. Asking employees what motivates them and providing rewards that are tailored to their values is important to sustaining motivation, contributing to job enrichment, and fostering a positive employee experience.
Huge rewards can often miss employee desires completely.
Many of the best rewards cost very little and are most effective when they are meaningful to the employee and given with sincere appreciation. Will is taking the right steps to effectively reward his people.