It has long been understood that employee recognition is a powerful ingredient in workplace productivity. Just as a company needs its employees to generate a profit, employees need incentives to maintain productivity. It is therefore a logical transition that an investment in your employees is an investment in the future success of your company.

Such investments in the human capital of your company are even more important during hard economic times. Often, the stress of financial uncertainty can filter down through a company, resulting in lowered moral and decreased workplace productivity. This is known as a ‘psychological recession’ and is often experienced by employees during budget reductions, layoffs and corporate re-structures.

In order to counteract the effects of a ‘psychological recession’ on employee productivity, managers must develop and implement strategic incentive schemes during times of financial uncertainty. An effective rewards scheme can not only increase workplace productivity, it can also lead to an increase in job satisfaction which, in turn, results in higher rates of retention and lower employee turnover.

An effective rewards scheme should:

Reward employees for developing new ideas, outstanding performance or for showing initiative.
Be meaningful to the recipient and personalised according to the employee’s interests and motivations.
Be timely and genuine.
Be appropriate in size to the level of effort and achievement.
An organisation’s reward system does not have to cost a lot of money in order to be effective. Besides compensation in the form of wages, other non-monetary rewards can include opportunities for training, constructive feedback, and public recognition.

Many studies have found that group recognition has an even greater impact on workplace performance. One creative way of recognising individuals in a group setting is with awards and trophies. This is where the idea for ‘Employee of the Month’ first originated.

Today, corporate awards cover everything from “sales rep of the year” to “winner of workplace pool competition”. If you are hoping to maximise your workplace productivity through the implementation of a low cost rewards scheme, talk to the consultants at Master Engraving about our quality range of affordable corporate trophies and plaques.