Building Engagement Through Rewards Rewards are important to understand in building employee engagement, because without exception human beings like to be rewarded for what they do. If you don’t believe me, just look at the number of reward cards and reward programs available out there today. In fact, my guess is you probably have at least one in your wallet or pursue right now. When you are rewarded in a way that is satisfying to you, then you are more likely to continue to perform the behaviors that yielded you that reward. Human beings are creatures of habit, so when we find things that work, then unconsciously or consciously, we are driven to do more. At the same time, we have a tendency to avoid the things where we feel there is little reward. You have heard or even thought to yourself, from time to time, “It just isn’t worth the effort” or in other words, it just isn’t worth the reward. In the work we do, the issue of rewards is often put on the table for discussion. Of course there are those who believe people are rewarded for the work they do, when they get paid each week. On the other side, there are managers who believe people are rewarded through special events, or by being acknowledged for the work they do. Smack in the middle of these two camps, are the leaders who admit they don’t know what to do and in true fact, this is a pretty great place to start from, believe it or not. You reward people in the same way you like to get rewarded. I can tell you the manager who sends out thank you notes, is probably the one who likes to receive them. The individual, who likes to receive a healthy bonus each year, probably couldn’t even understand why everyone wouldn’t think this was a great idea. The person, who likes to jet away on winter vacations, wouldn’t even be able to comprehend how someone could have a bank of vacation days they have never used. There is a reason so many different types of reward programs available to you. Some people like to collect air mile points, because jetting away on vacation is important to them. Some people like to get discounts and are thrilled when they have collected enough rewards to get something for free. Others like to use their collected money to buy special little purchases and to splurge the little things for themselves. Understand, it is never about the reward itself, it is about how these rewards ultimately make you feel. When you feel good about the rewards, you feel good about the organizations that provide them to you. You change how you shop and where you shop so as to take advantage of these little perks. If you want to know what is important to your people and what little perks would mean the most, how about simply asking them. If you want to engage your people in you and in what you are working to build, then the only measure of your success is the question…do they love you?
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