Espresa Recognition Rewards Guide

Supercharge your Superstars With Recognition With the Next Generation Recognition + Rewards Platform that People Love

Discover how rewarding your employees for their contributions has a measurable impact on your entire organization. In today’s tight and global labor Workplace programs go a market, focusing on people’s long way toward improving happines isn’t a luxury – it is a company culture and necessity. To attract and retain creating a sense of belonging talent, HR and people teams for employees. However, must be increasingly more sometimes what are thought innovative in making employees to be all-inclusive programs from diverse backgrounds are not enough, or worse, are feel valued, appreciated, and missing the connective mark. included. Recognition and rewards programs done right, allow people to stand out for exceptional performance or teamwork – and in a way that is meaningful to who they are, individually.

Loyalty Lives on Culture Street Loyalty is a hard thing to ask of If you want to be that place people these days, and with where employees love to come good reason. The fact is, loyalty to work, love their workmates, is a two-way street. Companies and are a vocal ambassador looking to attract and retain for your brand, you need amazing talent into full-time a solid recognition and roles need to be extremely rewards program that shows creative. Good people that your employees that their are a cultural 昀椀t are not contributions as individuals are expendable, nor should they truly appreciated. be made to feel so.

Recogniton and rewards programs enable companies to place a spotlight on exemplary people through public praise, personalized monetary and non-monetary gifts, and experiences. There is no one-size-昀椀ts-all approach to recognizing and rewarding employees, which makes these programs ideal for any size organization, and on any budget. SHINE A SPOTLIGHT FACTS DON’T LIE Unlike other workplace programs, such as Plus, recognized people make happy employee resource groups (also referred people at work and at play, and studies have to as ERGs) which seek to be inclusive of shown that happy people are 31 percent all employees, recognition and rewards more productive, which 100 percent REWARDS + RECOGNITION programs do the opposite: they single out directly affects your business bottom-line. people and teams for doing great work And productivity is not the only bene昀椀t of that impacts your business objectives and recognizing and rewarding employees. How it works values. Leaders who show they appreciate their people generate higher levels of trust than THINK “RETAIN”, NOT “HIRE” those who don’t. People who trust their Moreover, employees who feel valued in managers are more likely to work harder for their organization are more likely to stay, them. which in today’s multi-generational job market is the ultimate challenge. Increasing A MULTIPLIER EFFECT employee retention is critical for your Recognition and rewards programs also business bottom line, since the average promote a culture of self-improvement cost-per-hire is around S4,500, according that boosts self-esteem and encourages to the Society for Human Resource collaboration among people. Afterall, Management (SHRM). Recruiting, hiring, and people at work spend more time with their training typically costs around 20 percent peers than they do with their own families. and can be as high as 50 percent of an That puts pressure on companies to not employee’s salary for more sought after only be a great place to work, but also a talent. When you 昀椀nd the right employee, great place to connect, grow, and thrive. keeping them and nurturing them is a business-altering initiative

Rewarding people can take on a MONETARY REWARDS MONETARY-BASED EXPERIENCES variety of forms – it could be as simple One of the most common ways to recognize Instead of handing money or gift cards to people is with some form of monetary reward, your people, why not offer them a choice of as a high-昀椀ve for a job well done like a cash bonus or gift card. It’s fast and experiences, such as dinner at their favorite during a meeting, or as extravagant straightforward, and since it’s actual money, it’s restaurant, a trip to wine country, a spa treatment, as a vacation voucher to their favorite easy to keep track of in the budget. or tickets to their favorite concert or sporting destination! Here are some examples The problem with this kind of reward is that it event? of recognition and rewards to consider. can feel impersonal and people may assign the Designing an experience for individual people value of themselves or their work to the actual guarantees that the reward becomes something dollar amount given. For example, a person who special, not just extra money for groceries. When a receives a $20 gift card may see that as that being recognized person enjoys their experience, they’ll the value of their contribution, versus the budget connect positive feelings with your company, who that HR and people teams have to work with. more thoughtfully considered what they love as an Monetary rewards of this nature feel inauthentic individual. and are less attractive to younger generations who seek a positive environment to work; and experiential rewards for their contributions.

NON-MONETARY EXPERIENCES EQUITY-BASED REWARDS COMPLIMENTARY PROGRAMS Not all rewards need to be money-based, and Equity rewards in the form of stock options or If an organization already has workplace often, non-monetary rewards can be even restricted stock units are also a popular method convenience programs, such as car washes, more appreciated! If parking is at a premium of recognizing employees. Many companies have dry cleaning services, or on-campus massages, for example, companies can offer VIP parking great tools to track option vesting and ownership offering these to employees free of charge is an spots for a month to exceptional people. This but the rewarding process is actually done with easy way to reward them for their work. It also kind of reward allows organizations to design the old paper/pencil method, email, or a simply helps grow those programs. If an employee company-speci昀椀c recognitions, too. A high-end 1-1 meeting. There is typically no tracking of why has a good experience, they’re likely to tell car company could allow its employees to drive the reward was given and what company core their coworkers about it, which can increase one of their luxury cars for a week as a thank you. values were demonstrated by the employee, engagement and success. A travel company could provide a travel voucher, a which is a missed opportunity to show your hotel company could provide a room, etc. employee how they shine.

Jumping over hurdles Rewarding your people is invaluable for However, implementing recognition improving their experience, increasing and rewards programs successfully retention, and creating a more positive does not come without challenges. workplace culture overall. People Here are some common roadblocks who feel valued, appreciated, and organizations may face, as well as some autonomous are likely to have greater potential solutions. loyalty to your organization, which, if done right, is measurable!

Challenge Recognition and rewards programs have a lot of moving pieces: people as individuals, rewards, budget, and analytics. For larger organizations, in particular, keeping track of recognized individuals and rewards while also keeping the program on a budget can be tedious. To reduce that administrative burden, companies may be tempted to 昀椀nd a one-size-昀椀ts-all approach to recognition and rewards, like offering the The same reward to every standout employee, even if their contributions were different. However, doing so undermines the point of these programs, administrative which is to personalize the accolade and make sure your superstars are burden feeling individually appreciated and celebrated. 1 Solution Streamline your recognition and rewards program on a platform that automates people, reward, and budgets to reduce the administrative challenge. Moreover, customize the platform to include reward tiers, so it is easier to assign a reward that corresponds in value to a person’s performance.

Challenge Non-monetary rewards, such as on-campus massages or access to some sought-out amenities make people feel valued by giving them back their weekends and free time to not deal with these chores – and without blowing the company budget. However, if people are already using these workplace convenience programs, it can be frustrating to schedule a reward, especially if the scheduling is done through shared spreadsheets or Google Docs, which everyone can access. Scheduling Additionally, with today’s increasingly dispersed workforce, on-campus activities may not be an option, and nurturing those distributed team 2logistics members has never been more important. Solution Integrate a recogniton and rewards program with workplace programs that are already in place. This makes it easy to implement, schedule, and track appointments. Access controls allow only approved users to assign and schedule rewards. Additionally, consider special perks for the remote employee, such as mobile massage that comes to you!

Challenge Beside improving the overall people experience, recognition and rewards programs offer managers and HR and people teams crucial information about their people’s likes and dislikes. For example, if a person is consistently rewarded for hard work, being a team player, and exemplifying your company values, it is easy to see that retaining that employee is a priority for your organization. Knowing who has been rewarded makes the review process simpler for managers as well! Scattered If recognition and rewards programs are implemented haphazardly, with data stored manually in scattered documents and spreadsheets, those data analytics are useless to you as a people team, and to leadership as an 3 indicator of organizational health. Solution Keep recognition and rewards data in a centralized location. This not only eases the burden on administration, but it also gives managers a transparent foundation for employee reviews and promotions. HR and people teams can quickly see who is going above and beyond for the organization consistently.

Disrupting Culture for Good Espresa connects as many opportunities to recognition as possible, helping HR and People Teams to create a culture of gratitude. With Espresa, you have the next generation of technology at your 昀椀ngertips that people love to engage with. • Peer-to-Peer recognition and leaderboards • Personalized experiences • Customize recognition • Gami昀椀cation with digital recognition badges • Meaningful equity-based awards • Scheduled celebrations • Access to select and quality- veri昀椀ed experience ful昀椀llment partners

Espresa Let’s talk Retaining top people is critical for any organization to be successful, and that retention depends on the connection they feel to what has become more than just a workplace and a paycheck. By acknowledging exceptional work through recognition and rewards programs, companies can demonstrate to their teams that they’re valued and appreciated. That feeling of value turns into loyalty that translates into a healthy, productive, and thriving culture! To learn more about implementing the best recognition and rewards program for your organization, connect with Espresa, today! About Espresa Espresa is the world’s 昀椀rst Culture Bene昀椀ts™ platform that includes a suite of integrated tools with the next-generation experience that people love.