How you and your team can both reap the rewards of a culture shift

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It can start with something as simple as ‘thank you’.

Motivation through rewards isn’t a new idea. The notion that ‘people respond to incentives’ is a cornerstone of economics. Each new generation reinvents the concept. One of the buzz phrases out there right now is ‘nudge theory’.

This is based on the idea that you can influence the behaviour of individuals by changing what has been called “choice architecture”. In Liverpool, a behavioural science company was asked to install audio-visual prompts at a dangerous road crossing in the city centre. They used ‘embedded nudges’ to encourage safer crossing by pedestrians.

There is no doubt that subtly manipulating human behaviour has a place in specific settings such as road safety – but it seems cold and transactional. It isn’t very collaborative.

Moving away from transactional dynamics

Millions of people spend a significant proportion of their lives in their workplace. It is how they pay their mortgages, put food on the table, heat their home and are able to do the things they enjoy, whether that is socialising, eating out, going on holiday or something entirely different.

We accept that we have to graft a little to get the things in life we need and want. The traditional view is that work is a mainly transactional concept: we turn up and do a job for our contracted time and we receive money in return.

But given how much time we spend at work, it is not unreasonable to expect to spend those shifts in an environment that makes us feel welcome, values our ideas and input and acknowledges our hard work.

Prompting productivity

Study after study has shown workplaces that create this kind of environment are more productive and more likely to retain talented people.

It was, therefore, surprising to find out how many employees in the UK feel undervalued at work. According to a new survey, 10m people across the country are unhappy in their jobs with an incredible 79% of employees saying they would take a job elsewhere if given the opportunity.

Corporate rewards and employee recognition specialist Love2shop carried out the study. It also found that just 12% of employees ‘strongly agree’ that their employers are generous.

Love2shop organises reward and recognition programmes for both employees and customers in partnerships with firms and organisations in multiple sectors. Its reward services include the popular Love2shop brand, which offers physical or digital vouchers that can be spent with more than 150 leading consumer brands.

But a rewards programme has to be more than just a manager handing a voucher to an employee who has completed a piece of work. People want to feel genuinely valued and appreciated. That requires a culture shift within the organisation.

Small gestures have a huge impact

 In a discussion on the Road to Recognition: How to make employees feel valued organised by HR Magazine, Nebel Crowhurst, Vice-President of international education partnering organisation Into University Partnerships, said even the smallest gestures can have a huge impact.

She explained: “The things that really stand out, sometimes, are really small moments when someone can just say ‘thanks’. That thanks can be for the tiny things when you’re having a difficult time.

“Maybe someone notices you struggling and says ‘what can I do to help you?’ or ‘thanks for that really great piece of work that you did.’

“No matter what your role in a business, it’s just really nice when you have that feeling of someone saying thank you for that real ‘in the moment’ appreciation. Those moments that come from all different directions are what make a difference. People feel cared for and feel like they belong.”

Making people feel connected

Also on the panel was Stuart Curtis, senior director of global talent development at Workhuman. He said an effective recognition programme can also help more introverted employees feel more part of the team

“Investing in recognition also helps people who are highly introverted and don’t like to talk about themselves,” he said. “It’s got to be authentic. It can’t be generic, it can’t be copy and paste. Done right, the impact that has is just incredible in somebody’s life.

“People who are recognised frequently are 70% more likely to report thriving in the rest of their life because it gives some incredible feeling. They’re also five times more likely to connect that success to the culture of your organisation.”

Once you have started to establish a business culture that is both inclusive and nurturing, building on that with tangible rewards can create a powerful offer that can help create a productive and dynamic environment.

Strong results, low cost

Frank Creighton, Director of Business Development at Love2shop, said: “The extent to which UK workers feel undervalued and under-appreciated is worrying. The fact that one-third of staff feel undervalued should be a massive wake-up call for UK business.

“How undervalued employees are resolving this situation poses even greater concern. Our report indicates that many will continue to vote with their feet by finding a business that does appreciate them.”

This unwillingness by some employers to value their people has led to the rise of a phenomenon known as the ‘Great Resignation’. With the number of job vacancies at an historic high, people are seeking new jobs in ever greater numbers. This is bad news for staff retention and business continuity – and ultimately, expenditure.

“This ongoing nationally recognised trend is costing companies a huge amount of unexpected expenditure in recruitment, training and time,” added Frank. “That’s why it’s so important for more businesses to start making staff feel appreciated – by changing their attitude towards rewards.”

Attract, retain and engage through rewards

Love2shops offers a choice of multi-retailer gifting rewards, helping businesses attract and retain employees and customers.

With its award-winning digital platform, Love2shop also enables clients to plan, launch, communicate and maintain incentive or reward programs with minimal effort while delivering performance improvement.

Love2shop’s Everyday Benefits Card is already proving invaluable for employers who want to support their staff during the cost of living crisis. It offers a 7.5% discount on card loads to employees, helping them reduce their day-to-day spending.

Appreciate has calculated the average family can save more than £1,300 a year via the Everyday Benefits Card. It can also help with one-off purchases which is useful with Christmas just around the corner.

Visit love2shop.co.uk to learn more about how Appreciate can help your business introduce a reward and recognition programme that is cost-effective, simple and right for you.

Everyday Benefits cards and Love2shop are flexecash products. Flexecash is the prepaid card platform that issues flexecash Love2shop Cards. This facility is provided by Park Card Services who are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money. FRN: 900016.

Love2shop Cards are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as such we may need to complete an electronic identity check.

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Experts explain clear benefits of employee and customer rewards

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 Families across the UK could save a whopping £1,300 a year on their everyday spending if employers rolled out reward schemes to their staff.

 That was one of the revelations that came out of a webinar organised by leading corporate rewards and vouchers business Love2shop. An audience of businesspeople heard how rewarding their staff would lead to a happier, more productive workforce and a thriving business. 

 The Success Through Adversity webinar featured a number of expert speakers outlining how employers could help people within their organisations weather the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. 

 Increasing positive engagement through rewards 

 Love2shop offers several options for employers looking to reward and incentivise both staff and customers. For a relatively low cost and simple set-up, products such as the Everyday Benefits Card and the Love2shop Engagement Platform can help transform a business. This is in addition to the range of Love2shop gift cards, e-gift cards and vouchers that have been used by businesses for staff and employee rewards for many years. 

 Frank Creighton, Director of Business Development at Love2shop, explained how Love2shop has been used by millions of people for 30 years and can be a key tool for businesses looking for efficient ways to offer rewards. 

 “Vouchers, gift cards and e-gift cards help businesses of all sizes across multiple sectors attract and retain both employees and customers,” said Frank. “Love2shop has supported organisations from the NHS to care homes, professional services, manufacturers, financial services and every size of business from small to FTSE-100s.
 “They all have the same need: to reward, engage and incentivise people. Research has shown that if employees are rewarded, they are more likely to be engaged and productive and that is a win-win.” 

 Supporting employees through economic challenges
 Addressing the cost of living crisis, Frank explained that it was more important than ever to support their staff through what is a very worrying period. 

 “From speaking to businesses we know they are keen to support their people. Fortunately, we do have the products and services to help employers support their staff at this time,” he added. 

 Frank outlined how the Everyday Benefits Card could make a real tangible difference to people’s lives. It covers many leading high street and online brands included in the Love2shop platform. 

 He said: “It is a real solution for employers who want to support their staff during the cost of living crisis. The way it works is very straightforward. 

 “It’s a prepaid card that allows employees to load funds at a 7.5% discount. It can then be spent in 90+ high-street stores that are part of Love2shop. It also opens up access to discounts on selected supermarket gift card loads, which employees pay directly from their debit card and which can reduce the cost of their essential spending.  

 “With Christmas coming it can also help with one-off purchases. We have calculated the average family can save more than £1,300 a year via the Everyday Benefits Card. 

 “It can be used for everyday essentials, meals, days out or bigger purchases such as holidays and we can offer employers a free trial card if they get in touch.” 

 Keeping hold of talented employees 

 Love2shop recently published its Employee Value Report, a revealing snapshot of the level of worker happiness across the economy. It made for stark reading for employers. It calculated that across the UK 10m employees felt undervalued by their employers with eight out of 10 seeking a new job elsewhere. 

 “It is well worth a read,” added Frank. “It shows how rewards and recognition are now more crucial than ever. An engaged employee is more productive and will generate more profit.” 

Love2shop Engagement Platform is an online tool which offers a relatively low-cost way of implementing and managing an employee and customer rewards and incentive schemes. It’s flexible, so businesses can choose either an off-the-shelf platform or have one tailored to the specific needs of their business. 

 Many employers are concerned about both the costs and logistics of setting up a rewards programme as they believe it may be too time-consuming and expensive. 

 “They have to be able to show a return on investment,” said Jamie Clarke, head of the Love2shop Engagement Platform. “Our platform manages most of the administration and monitoring of a reward scheme for the client.  

“We offer a modular approach with a platform offering all the functionality required to get any incentive, loyalty or employee recognition scheme up and running super-fast with lower costs. It is simple to use and we can work with employers to tailor the platform should they need to.” 

 As well as employee engagement, Jamie talked about how Love2shop can also help with customer retention. He referred to Love2shop’s relationship with Brakes, which is one of the UK’s biggest wholesalers to the hospitality industry. 

Using the Love2shop Engagement Platform, Brakes customers were offered a blend of discounts, cashback, charitable opportunities and Love2shop rewards as part of the ‘Help for Hospitality’ campaign in 2021. 

 It was such a success it was awarded Best Channel Partner Programme at the 2021 Incentive Awards. 12 months later, Love2shop has just retained that award for their work with another client – Buildbase.  

 “Implementing a programme does not have to be complex,” added Jamie. “Once we understand your needs we can project-manage everything. We deploy modules to help you set goals and targets and generate automatic communications. 

“We also have mechanisms for data exchange. It means you can input raw data into the platform and it will crunch the numbers. It can take anything between four to 12 weeks to implement and ultimately these schemes pay for themselves – they deliver results and a strong return on investment.” 

 Those attending the webinar also heard from former England football international Jill Scott MBE. The ‘Lioness’ told the audience how critical reward and motivation was in sport. 

 Also speaking was Rebecca Stevens, a business psychologist and founder of Work Brighter. She has worked with hundreds of businesses and leaders across multiple sectors. 

 She told the webinar that creating motivation and engagement was a common topic when she spoke to business leaders  

 “People have intrinsic motivations, such as satisfaction and pride about a job well done and extrinsic motivations, such as a promotion or a pay rise. Extrinsic things can help reinforce behaviour and we need to move towards a positive reinforcement of the behaviours we want to see in a very personalised way.”

Referring to the Love2shop Employee Value Report, Rebecca said the finding that 75% of people believing that companies that offer rewards were more likely to attract a better calibre of employee did not surprise her, adding: “The reward strategy has to have an individualised aspect to really work.” 

 Concluding the webinar, Julian Coghlan, Love2shop’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, said: “Not only is reward and recognition a key element of any successful business model, it is also crucial to the morale and loyalty of individuals. We are here to help… we can offer a real benefit to your business in the current economic climate.” 

 Everyday Benefits cards and Love2shop Cards are flexecash products. flexecash is the prepaid card platform that issues flexecash Love2shop Cards. This facility is provided by Park Card Services who are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money. FRN: 900016.  

Love2shop Cards are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as such we may need to complete an electronic identity check. 

Physical Love2shop vouchers, Love2shop e-gift cards and reward codes and Love2shop Holidays gift cards are not regulated by the FCA. 

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Cost of living rise presents big challenges – and there are ways to mitigate the impact

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Evidence of the UK’s worsening cost of living crisis is becoming impossible to ignore – it is there in the data and in countless anecdotal examples.

One high street butcher, Raymond Millar, reports that his customers had already started saving for their Christmas dinner in July. His savings scheme that allows people to buy their meat for the festive season doesn’t usually start until September.

Then there is the GP, Dr Laurence Dorman, who for more than a year has been offering food vouchers to his patients. He is now giving them out with increasing frequency. Dr Dormam told the BBC the cost of living crisis could have “massive, profound implications” for patients’ health.

It feels like the price of everything is on the rise. As we emerged from the pandemic supply chains struggled to keep up with demand. This caused an initial spike in inflation and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine has accelerated the crisis.

Energy costs push inflation upwards

Russia is a major global source of oil and gas and the war has put huge constraints on supply. From June 2021 to June 2022 gas prices for UK households soared by 95% and electricity prices by 54%. The UK’s wholesale electric price is linked to the price of gas.

From October 1, the energy price cap will go up further. The price cap is a mechanism that sets the maximum amount that suppliers can charge in England, Scotland and Wales. From October the typical annual gas and electricity bill is likely to reach £3,358, according to consultancy Cornwall Insight.

In contrast, in October 2021 the average annual bill was just £1,400. And Cornwall Insight is forecasting this could go above £4,200 by January 2023. Millions of people are wondering whether they will be able to afford to switch the heating on at all this winter. This may dampen the enthusiasm from some for working from home.

Finance and consumer rights guru Martin Lewis, says: “This is a national crisis on the scale that we saw in the pandemic.”

Martin, and many others, are now calling on the government to take urgent action to soften the blow. From September it is likely that, whoever is prime minister, whether that’s Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, will be forced to act. Both have been vague on the issue during their campaigns. But once they take office, the pressure to act will be irresistible.

Inflation is now above 10% and the Bank of England is projecting it will hit 13% in the next few months, tipping the UK into recession. Food prices are rising rapidly in the shops. Who can forget the price of a tub of Lurpak surging above £9 in July?

Ukraine impact felt in the supermarkets

Again, the conflict in Ukraine is having a major impact. Ukraine is a leading exporter of essential commodities such as sunflower oil, grain, maize and wheat. The United Nations has warned global food costs could rise by 20%. The rising price of oil means the cost of moving food around is also much higher, adding to high prices.

Rising costs are also hitting businesses which are in turn facing the dilemma of whether or not to pass the costs onto their customers. Some cafes, bars and restaurants are considering reducing their opening hours to reduce outgoings, according to a study by eEnergy and Censuswide.

And even nipping out for a sandwich in your lunch break is now becoming more expensive. In the last few weeks both Boots and Co-op have hiked the prices of their meal deals. Outside London, Boots has put the price up from £3.39 to £3.59. In London it has gone up from £3.99 to £4.19.

Co-op’s meal deals have jumped in price from £3.50 to £3.75. And the nation’s favourite bakery chain, Greggs, is warning of rises of up to 9% on some products in the coming months.

There is upward pressure on the cost of getting to and from work. Motorists have already seen petrol prices at the pumps rocket. And public transport users face further unpredictability. Train tickets prices rise each January based on the retail price index from the previous July, plus 1%. This means commuters could face 12% fare rises in 2023.

Although still low by historical standards, interest rates are also on the rise. At the time of writing the Bank of England has pushed up rates to 1.75% from 1.25%. Those on fixed-rate mortgages have some protection for the moment. However, the average monthly cost of a tracker mortgage has increased by more than £160 since December 2021.

Simple actions that make a difference 

There are steps people can take to mitigate some of their daily outgoings. Sharing car journeys into work with colleagues could make a significant difference to fuel costs. As could using park and ride schemes. And although grocery prices are rising, taking your own lunch into work will always be cheaper than buying a sandwich.

And many coffee shops run loyalty schemes where you get a free hot drink after your card’s been stamped so many times, or a reduced price if you use a reusable cup. These smaller benefits can make a difference over time.

There are also things employers can do. There is an increasing number of businesses which are being pro-active. According to the Living Wage Foundation, 10,000 employers in the UK have now committed to paying the Real Living Wage. At £9.90 for most of the country and £11.05 in London, this is higher than the mandated National Minimum Wage.

In recent weeks there have been multiple reports of companies pledging one-off financial payments to help their people deal with the cost of living. One of those is Love2shop, which has offered a payment to all of its employees.

And the company is doing its bit for the wider community by partnering with digital payment business PayPoint. This agreement will see both parties expand their product range to provide local authorities with a new way of servicing the most financially at-risk people.

Employers can do their bit to help

Love2shop is also working with businesses across the country to help them offer real financial rewards and incentives through its Love2shop gifting products. Given the broad range of retailers available on Love2shop, it allows employers to meaningfully contribute to their employees’ cost of living dilemmas if that’s how they choose to spend their gift cards.

As well as the ‘treat’ opportunities with a Love2shop Gift Card, it’s also accepted by more than 150 leading UK consumer brands including Sainsbury’s, Argos, Tesco, Wilko, Iceland, Matalan, New Look, and Argos. So people can choose to buy everyday essentials or for those little luxuries.

With the new school year about to start, a multi-retailer gift card could offer great savings on the price of school uniforms or other essential items such as school shoes or a PE kit.

This is also the time of year when we start thinking about Christmas. People could use their gift card to get a head-start and buy gifts in advance, taking away some of the stress normally felt in November and December.

Some employers may be able to negotiate cheaper corporate discounts with local car parks to reduce parking costs, or allow more people to work from home when practical – if the costs don’t outweigh the costs of going to work considering the rising fuel costs come winter.

There are tough times ahead but employers can make a big difference to the lives of their employees for a modest outlay.

If you can see how Love2shop reward and recognition products could help your business, contact our business team today. Email [email protected] or call  0344 375 0739.

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The crucial trick to motivating and engaging your remote teams

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A year ago, a great deal of blog space was still being dedicated to pondering and postulating about home working. How will we scale security? Will employees be motivated at home? Will our company culture suffer? Will productivity take a nosedive?

A year later, those questions are going through a global stress test. According to YouGov, 38% of the pre-crisis workforce are now working at home. The interesting part is, they don’t particularly want to go back, either.

A massive majority of workers simply do not want to go back to the office full-time, according to some recent research by Okta. And that’s while the rest of the world slowly takes the shape of normality.

Eggs and flour are regular features on the supermarket shelves again, along with your favourite craft beer and wines. You can even pop out for a pint and see your friends in the park. But the country’s staff aren’t gagging to give up remote working.

What this tells us is that we’re past the point of adjusting to a crisis. The shock has passed, and most of us are pretty happy with this version of “normal,” at least when it comes to our work. That means it’s time to address one of the downsides of a remote workforce – isolation. Our company, Love2shop, have had to address this ourselves and find a way to make sure everyone’s engaged and motivated at home.

Not just the chat and banter, and the office friends. But the sense of camaraderie, company culture, and the feeling that we’re all contributing to something wider than the narrow furrows we plough. The one thing any company can, and should, do to combat the feeling that staff are plugging away in their own little world is communicate.

Communicate to engage a remote team

If it’s not too gauche to blow our own horn, Love2shop, have done a great job of handling the sudden dispersal of our teams. At group, department, and team levels, we have tactics to keep employees engaged and connected.

Group-level communications

Weekly round ups

Every week, Group and Human Resources put together a round-up of news and views from around the business and push it out to staff. That might include blogs written by people in our company, surveys to get opinions and feedback from staff about their work and their response to Group efforts, news on how the business is responding to COVID-19 developments, and any human resources developments that might affect staff.

Podcasts

Some of the leadership figures around Love2shop have been putting together podcasts talking about what’s happening in their corner of the Love2shop universe. That might be our senior leadership team fielding questions from the staff, our design managers talking about our latest product developments, or even just some stories of kindness to cheer everyone up.

Team/department-level

Meetings are not the word that fills everyone with the sense of thrill and wonder, we know. But we’re not trying to blow anyone’s socks off, we’re trying to keep everyone connected to each other.

Weekly meetings

Weekly meeting are where department-level discussions happen. They’re where we talk about what the individual teams that make up the wider departments are doing, what projects are being delivered, and how we’re performing as a division against our targets. We also run through news, introduce new hires, and talk about what’s happening at Group level and how it might affect our day-to-day work.

Daily meetings

Our daily catch-ups give us a chance to see some friendly, familiar faces, talk about what we’re doing inside and outside of work, gripe about some things, gloat about others. It’s also crucial for making sure everyone is on the same page with their tasks.

Which is useful because one of the of the downsides of working remote is that it’s hard to just turn to someone and ask a question. It’s just that much harder to do that at home.

Having a time every day where you can ask some stupid questions to make sure everything is going in the right direction gives you a bit of psychological runway. That runway pushes back doubt and uncertainty, letting staff get through their work with confidence and satisfaction about their efforts.

Don’t let grumbling put you off

You might be thinking “everyone hates meetings though”. Which might be a fair point, but in our experience everyone’s still on time for them, which wasn’t always the case when they were face to face. And they still contribute.

We’d happily err on the side of having one meeting too many, one podcast too many, one email too many, than risk staff feeling like they’re twisting in the wind or not valued.

And ultimately, that’s what why communication and inclusion produces motivation and engagement. We’re putting every day, every task, every role into a wider context. Showing that other colleagues appreciate and depend on their work, and demonstrating that what they’re doing has value.

Cash-value rewards, recognition software, and incentive systems do work, but only prosper long-term when employees are motivated by more than a transaction. That’s why you need to embrace communication to keep engagement and motivation in good supply in the home office.

It’s not always fancy, but it is effective

The importance of talking and communicating with your staff can’t be understated. These are simple tactics, but sticking with them is how you’ll be able to communicate culture, talk about your values and make sure everyone feels connected.

Like we said in another blog recently, you can’t put this genie back in its bottle. We all know now that we could have done this before. It just won’t be possible to tell a workforce in the future that home working isn’t realistic. At least not with a straight face.

Baking these habits into your company now is how you’re going to keep, and strengthen, company culture and staff morale as you navigate the world during, and after, COVID-19.

As always, if you want to talk about motivating and engaging your staff, get in touch. We’re always happy to chat.

Case study – Digital rewards make sure healthcare heroes are recognised

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Summary

A large UK healthcare provider, whose portfolio includes numerous care homes, found themselves unable to safely reward their staff with plastic gift cards following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK.

 

The challenge

For more than three years previously, the client had been enjoying our Love2shop Gift Cards. While we always discuss our digital reward options with clients, in this case, our client was understandably reluctant to change a winning formula – their reward scheme was producing good levels of engagement and positive feedback with using plastic gift cards.

While the client was happy with their status quo, the COVID-19 outbreak forced a change. Not only was there a sharp increase in the demands placed on the workdays of their employees, meriting more recognition and reward, but there was no safe way to distribute physical gift cards to their employees. A solution had to be found, and fast.

“Crucially, we’ve been able to keep engagement high, and keep rewarding our amazing staff, through a difficult time.”

Love2shop’s solution

After a conversation with their account manager,  Jackie Reynolds, about these difficulties, we recommended they switch to our  digital reward codes.

Our codes are an end-to-end digital product, meaning  there’s no physical interaction between our clients and their staff  when  buying or delivering them. Clients order them through our Self-Serve portal, and they’re delivered digitally. The codes themselves come to employees as emails or text messages, and those employees redeem them online. Perfect for sending rewards when physical contact is dangerous.

As it was unthinkable that our client’s incredible staff would go without rewards for their work during this difficult period, these digital rewards were a natural fit. Jackie helped them through an initial transition, and made sure the client got right back to thanking their employees with exciting rewards as soon as possible.

“The codes are so simple to use that our staff have had no trouble making the switch.”

The outcome

Most importantly, our client was able to lift morale among their staff in a trying time. For Love2shop, this is one of the aspects of our work we’re most proud of. Employees doing great things deserve to be recognised and celebrated. It’s a privilege to help deliver that for our clients.

However, the rewards have also been a success in other ways. For instance, our client’s staff have enjoyed their digital rewards so much, they are considering continuing to use digital rewards even when contact is safe in their workplace again.

The digital ordering and delivery process for our reward codes also deliver significant advantages in fulfilment and ordering. Especially when centrally managing a nationwide scheme. Our client would previously order their gift cards, and have them delivered to their central office. From there, the client would separate the rewards and send them to individual facilities, creating a time-consuming administrative task on top of postage fees.

Our simple ordering process, and digitally fulfilled rewards, massively simplified that process, removing the need for physical fulfilment. The combined effect is less time, and less money, being spent to deliver better rewards.

Jackie Reynolds, the Love2Shop Engagement Consultant who managed the project, added: “What’s good to see is how easily their staff have adapted to their new rewards. Many clients have concerns about changing their staff rewards, especially if it involves technology, but our experience is usually that employees adapt quickly to the switch. It’s heartening to see that’s also the case for this challenge, given how important these rewards are to the client.”

Our contact inside the company said: “All our worries about switching from plastic to digital evaporated straight away. The codes are so simple to use that our staff have had no trouble making the switch. Crucially, we’ve also been able to keep engagement high, and keep rewarding our amazing staff through a difficult time.

“Love2shop, and our account manager Jackie, have done a great job helping us quickly make the change, and making sure that our incredible staff get the thanks and rewards they deserve so much during this difficult period.”

 

 

*At the request of our client, this case study has been anonymised.

employee recognition ideas for when the piggybank is empty

15 Cheap employee recognition ideas that work

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Having no budget to implement your employee recognition ideas shouldn’t hold you back. All you need is a bit of thought, creativity and the will to execute your plans.

Cash-value rewards are exciting, and they do positively affect motivation and performance. But they should be treated as an amplification tool to recognition. Praise should be dished out regularly to employees, regardless of whether rewards are available or not.

Recognition works when it embraces an employees’ need to be valued. Everyone wants to know their work is worthwhile, and they want to feel that they’re contributing to something bigger than themselves.

So, it’s not good enough to simply shrug your shoulders and complain you have no budget. You can start with almost nothing and still show your employees that you value their daily contributions with regular recognition.

No-cost employee recognition ideas

 

1. Verbal recognition

verbal praise is a great employee recognition ideaSay it and mean it. Let staff know the great work they do is valuable, and it’s helping your business reach its goals. Verbal recognition is personal and emotional. It can have great upticks in employee morale.

The only downsides are that it’s fleeting. And it’s difficult to connect verbal recognition with your company’s values without coming across as stilted.

 

2. Written recognition

Written recognition, such as a small note or a letter, is very effective. You can present it alongside a verbal recognition, and it becomes a little trophy. It’s also much easier to include a mention of your company’s values in a written statement.

It might seem like a small gesture, but taking time and care is always valuable to staff. You putting effort in validates the effort of staff and helps them see how valuable you think they are.

 

3. Team-level recognition

Not every team has a stand-out star. Not every project has a lead individual to single out for recognition.

Teams might achieve goals through exceptional teamwork, or problem solving. They might work across departments, or incorporate new ideas quickly. Equally, they might have acted on their own initiative to lay the groundwork for an upcoming project.

In these situations, it would be hard to single out one employee, so recognise the whole team. Call them in for a meeting, praise their exceptional efforts, and perhaps offer a reward of some kind.

A lot of companies that don’t have a budget to work with use flexibility as a reward. Time off for a whole team, an early-dart in an afternoon, or for individuals to use some extra flex-time.

4. Ask for feedback

Having a voice in the company matters as much as hearing one.

When someone demonstrates exceptional effort or achievement, listen to them. Offer the employee a chance to give their feedback on what’s happening in the company.

You might gain valuable insight from your top performers. And the employee will see that you don’t just treasure the value of your work. You see value in their thoughts and ideas too.

 

5. Boast achievements internally

Lean on your internal communications to showcase the achievements.

Even if you don’t have anything formal in place for internal communication, you can write an email. Depending on your position in the company, you might limit that to your department or division.

The wider your message goes, the bigger the impact of the recognition. But we understand not everyone has that luxury. If you have the seniority though, go company-wide.

If you’re casting the net wide, ask other managers for suggestions. They’ll nominate the stand-out performances from their teams. With care and consistency it could become something your employees look forward to seeing.

 

6. Share achievements externally

Share your teams’ wins with the world.

Take to social media, your website or your monthly newsletter. Use these mediums to highlight your employees’ recent successes.

Setting up a LinkedIn page, or a Facebook page, and connecting with your customers costs you little. And it would give your employees immense pride to have their work highlighted there.

Some companies squirm at the idea of putting things out in the public. We understand that. But as long as what they’re doing lines up with your values, you should fine.

 

7. Noticeboards or whiteboards as a makeshift wall of fame

If you can spare one, whiteboards and noticeboards are extremely useful. It’s not as advanced as proper employee recognition software, but it has its own low-tech charm.

You’re limited only by what’s available around you. Written notes, photographs, letters from clients, certificates or more.

Your little wall of fame could quickly become a popular centrepiece of the office.

It won’t be measurable like a formal platform, but it will be fun for your staff. And it doesn’t have to go away if you do introduce a formal platform.

 

8. Measure achievements and progress

Measure progress towards personal and departmental goals. Acknowledge employees when they get past milestones on their way to those goals.

 

9. Celebrate milestones

It costs you nothing to write down and always make sure to acknowledge your employees’ milestones.

Birthdays, work anniversaries, or product launches. Anything that you know your employees will find valuable, make a note of it.

This one is so simple you can’t lose. And as we’ve outlined before, we think it’s important to recognise all employee longevity. Even after just one year.

 

Be creative with your employee recognition ideas

If you can peel off even a bit of extra cash, recognition possibilities start to open up.

Start with the culture of your company. Not just the formal values you lay out for staff to adhere to – the way your employees actually interact with each other.

Take that, and get creative with your employee recognition ideas. There are some really energising, funky recognition systems out there that don’t break the bank.

We’ve seen some creative, successful ideas put together with very little real budget.

 

10. Stickers or badges

Stickers are cheap, but fun and disposable. Pop one on an employees’ equipment, their workstation or their document folders.

Badges, also, give you a little creative outlet that’s easy to implement. Your staff might wear them on their uniforms, attach them to lanyards, or affix them to the back of their chair.

 

11. Picking the team lunch

If you can afford to foot the bill for a team lunch, let a star performer pick the weekly or monthly meal, however best suits your team.

Team meals are a great way to coax your staff out of their shells a bit. Having one team member pick the meal might also give you a glimpse of your staff’s personalities and let them create deeper bonds together.

 

12. Time for projects

In today’s world, almost everyone is time poor. Professional lives blend and blur with the personal, and both can suffer for it. A lot of good ideas tend to go to rust when employees don’t get the time they need to develop them.

As an act of recognition, you might give an employee the space to develop an idea. If it’s a really good idea, the company could stand to gain from it being developed. And your employee will enjoy a sense of personal ownership over the project.

 

13. Charitable acts

Put aside cash for a monthly donation to a smaller charity of choice. Big charities will barely notice a £50 donation, but many staff have charities close to their hearts. So target smaller charities with causes close to your staff’s lives.

A donation in their name would mean a great deal to your employees, and would have a bigger impact on the charity.

Or perhaps your employee would appreciate a bit of time for volunteering for a cause of their choice. As we pointed out above, everyone is perpetually stretched for time. And extra activities like volunteering are often what takes the hit when staff allocate their time.

 

14. Group trophies

Rather than shelling out month after month to make an office full of trophies, just buy the trophy once. The monthly winner of the trophy gets to keep it at their workstation for a month.

For an extra twist on this employee recognition idea, make it a vote. Offer your staff the chance to vote on who should be recognised every month. You can read our blog here on why we favour a bit of democracy in the workplace when it comes to recognition. Our recognition platform, Shout!, is based on the idea that employees should have a say in what’s important and who gets recognised.

 

15. Car washing

Invite a car wash team on site to clean and detail someone’s car. Or maybe offer money off a bike service for a bicycle commuter. Train commuters are bit harder, but you can always be creative – Kindle books, books on tape, Acast podcast subscriptions. Just use your imagination and your knowledge of your employees.

 

 

Making your employee recognition ideas work

Good employee recognition ideas keep individual personalities in mind. Look around your office, and look at what makes them tick. Look at what generates humour, enthusiasm and participation in your teams. Take that as your starting point and use it as a launching point.

Just remember not to discard the basics. Whatever funky initiatives you decide on, keep them linked to your company culture and values.

 

Put values in the spotlight

More than once in this piece we’ve mentioned values. We talk about them so often because they’re so important. They’re vital to shaping the attitude and the culture of your company.

Focus on your company’s values to get more out of your recognition. Filtering recognition through your values puts employee behaviour through a lens. It lets them see how their work contributes to a greater whole.

This is a building block towards an engaged workforce.

 

Be consistent

Make recognising staff a habit. Build it into your daily, weekly and monthly work. A lot of staff will notice if you suddenly start then stop something or lose interest over time.

If you buy into the idea, make sure you show your staff that you buy into the idea.

 

It’s not complicated or expensive to recognise employees. Platforms and cash-value rewards have an impact, but they’re not the focus.

They’re a welcome addition but the crux of your effort needs to be about making employees’ value feel seen, welcome and treasured.