Personalize your employee rewards program
By Bharani Nagarathnam
Recognition and rewards are essential to maintaining employee engagement and increasing retention.
Recognition is generally public, spontaneous, intangible, and emotionally driven, while rewards are typically private, tangible, and focused on results.
The best employee rewards programs personalize rewards to appeal to each employee. And they don’t have to be only monetary.
Traditionally, most employee reward programs include monetary awards, such as bonuses and profit sharing. Today, companies are expanding their reward programs to include non-monetary, experiential, professional development, work-life balance, and other rewards.
Here are some of the top rewards to consider when developing a personalized employee rewards program:
Monetary: These are the most common types of incentives used to motivate employees.
- Bonuses
- Commissions
- Stock options
- Salary increases
- Profit sharing
- Immediate cash rewards
- Referral bonuses
Non-Monetary: Any reward that doesn’t involve cash or financial benefits.
- Special assignments
- Parking privileges for premium spots
- Office and work environment enhancements
- Merchandise
- Appreciation lunches, dinners
Experience-Based: Offering rewards that give top performers experiences they may not have otherwise.
- Travel opportunities
- Show or event tickets
- Team-building and social activities
- Volunteer
- Tours
Professional Development: Many top performers value continued investment in their skills and professional growth.
- Leadership retreats
- Budgets for additional training, coursework, or certifications
- Mentorship
- Tuition reimbursement
- Access to internal training programs
Work-Life Balance: Making it easier for employees to have a better work-life balance by offering additional rewards is incredibly valuable.
- Additional PTO
- Wellness benefits such as fitness app subscriptions
- Flexible working
- Charitable donation matching
- Sabbaticals
- Including family members in celebrations
Distributors that develop employee rewards programs that offer a mix of options give employees enough variability to personalize incentives that work for them and fuel company success.
Industry Perspectives
“I encourage leaders to recognize effort and reward results. What I mean by that is people are working hard to get things done, and sometimes, there are issues outside their control that cause them to miss the intended result. We want to recognize the work that’s been done. And then we want to reward positive outcomes.”
– Rob Zell, Learning Leader, Reece USA
In the Field
From Frontline Trailblazer Awards to Servant Leadership Awards, SRS Distribution regularly celebrates and shares its employees’ successes on LinkedIn. This recognition also gives the distributor the opportunity to show its gratitude for individual contributions.
Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam is an associate professor and director of the Master of Industrial Distribution at the Industrial Distribution Program at Texas A&M University. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses. He has more than 25 years of experience in teaching, applied research, and business development. He has worked on industry projects, consortia, and professional development programs for more than 100+ manufacturers and distributors. He is the co-founder of the Talent Development Council and works with Distributors on Talent Acquisition, Management, Development, and Retention practices.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The July/August issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about 3BG Supply. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam and Frank Hurtte, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
