In our efforts to ensure we are matching wage and benefit levels to others in the industry and remaining competitive on the salary front, we often forget that daily recognition and rewards influence the morale and engagement of our workforce and shape our organizational culture. In my experience, it is the intrinsic rewards that set the stage for workplace behaviours and create an environment that supports pride, self worth and excitement in the workplace, making employees want to do a good job, perform at higher levels and want to remain with an organization.

A toxic workplace

A common complaint that comes up when we assess workplace culture is that the workplace is “toxic”. How do we define “toxic”? A work environment gets toxic when certain behaviours and actions are allowed to take place that are not conducive to organizational values and individual well being. It is the simple stuff that becomes quite large over time and has an impact on morale and engagement. Often times we can sense the toxicity, but cannot see it. What is visible on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg. We have all witnessed it at some point: the snide comment behind someone’s back, or the sideways glance when a team member vocalises an opposing or unpopular opinion; when a supervisor repeatedly doesn’t follow through on a commitment to an employee, or takes responsibility away from an employee with no explanation (leaving him or her to question the integrity of their superior); the office gossip with malicious overtones; or the disrespectful behaviour that may not fall under the heading of harassment (or just falls short).

These behaviours impact individuals, work teams and the organization as a whole. Like a cancer, toxic workplace behaviour can eat away at an organization. Over time, it results in increased workplace stress, increased absenteeism, decreased morale, decreased engagement, decreased productivity, increased turnover and poor customer service. The point is that these little behaviours have a large impact on the culture of your organization, which has a large impact on the financial outcomes of the organization.

Employees want more than a pay cheque from their job; they want to feel a sense of belonging, respect, value, and appreciation. Even the highest wage levels are not enough to keep a key employee if the culture of the organization is poisoned.

Reduce toxicity through daily rewards

How does daily recognition and rewards relate to workplace culture? It is the behaviour, activity and outcomes that are rewarded on an ongoing basis that demonstrate what the organization values in terms of workplace behaviours. By demonstrating that there is value to positive workplace behaviour, we are supporting a workplace environment that lives the values of the organization and fosters positive workplace behaviour, actions and outcomes.

When provided with daily recognition and rewards we remind employees about:

• what behaviours, activities and outcomes the organization values;
• what is acceptable and not acceptable in your workplace;
• the value their contributions make to the organization; and,
• the organizations appreciation of ideal workplace behaviour and job outcomes.

 

When managers and supervisors reward good behaviour, they focus the energy of their employees on what is important to the organization and demonstrate the significance of positive workplace behaviour.

A few tips to get you started

While a comprehensive program may take some time to develop we have seen that even a simple plan can improve the overall feel of the workplace. Here are a few simple guidelines for a daily recognition and rewards program:

• Link the criteria for daily recognition to your organizational values.
• Clearly define the criteria for recognition and rewards. Help eliminate biases in your recognition and rewards program by clearly specifying what behaviour, activity and outcomes justify recognition and rewards. Rather than stating that you will reward motivation, define what behaviours demonstrate motivation in your workplace, workgroup or individuals “The employee with the highest ratings on customer service surveys over the course of the week” is more specific than “employees who provide quality customer service”.
• When recognizing an employee for demonstrating the ideal behaviour, activities or outcomes of your workplace, be specific about what the individual did to warrant the praise or reward. Rather than saying — “hey, good job today” try — “Sue, the way you handled that difficult customer was impressive. You managed to deescalate his anger and have him leave with a smile on his face. The customer satisfaction survey he completed afterward demonstrated his satisfaction with your abilities too. It is that level of service that keeps us in business. Thank you.”
• Match rewards to employee interests. Know what is meaningful to your employees — if an employee doesn’t care for hockey, but has been rewarded for exceptional behaviour by receiving tickets to the NHL game, you defeat the purpose of your program. Link reward to behaviours and interests.
• Remember recognition in your recognition & rewards program. Recognition can be as simple as a sincere thank you or a card of thanks. Often times a simple and sincere “thank you” carries more weight than a gift or a weekend away. When this happens on an ongoing basis, it sets an example for others to follow and can start a chain reaction of the positive kind.
• Publicise your winners. Public recognition fosters a sense of pride and can help build self esteem. Let the whole organization know when an employee has performed well. Support managers and supervisors to find ways to publicly recognize employees. One agency we work with has a monthly newsletter that goes out to clients, other service agencies, board members, etc. They (with the staff permission) post recognition in a section of their newsletter on a monthly basis. The popularity of their STAR section has grown and their readers now send in kudos to specific staff members that the readers feel should be recognized.
• Make it timely. Don’t wait for a formal performance review to take place before acknowledging someone’s positive impact in the workplace. Let everyone know on a daily basis, in the moment as it happens. People want to perform well, they just need to know when they are — repeated good performance has been on the upswing with several of the organizations we work with as a result of immediate feedback.
• Support your people to find the good in others. Reward employees who acknowledge a co-workers hard work or positive behaviour. Giving your people a reason to look for the good in others fosters a more cohesive and collaborative culture. By setting up a program that rewards those who give kudos to others, organizations we work with have seen a dramatic increase in their employee satisfaction rates.
• Measure the success of your recognition and rewards program. Measure the levels of engagement, trust, turnover, absenteeism, etc before you start and on an ongoing basis for departments and the organization as a whole.
• Inform supervisors and managers about the reason for your recognition and rewards program, the impact it has on their people, productivity, customer satisfaction, and the finances of the business. Train managers and supervisors on how to use your recognition and rewards program and reward the managers and supervisors that implement and maintain the program.

 

Following these few guidelines will assist you to be more successful in fostering a healthy organizational culture that keeps your people motivated, engaged and excited about coming to work at your organization. Compensation comes in many forms; a well designed and managed daily recognition and rewards program is an integral part of your overall human resources management (HRM) plan.

Gailforce Resources puts people power in sync by assisting businesses with their human resources needs, including training, consulting, coaching, and workplace document writing. Visit their e-learning site at training.gailforceresources.com.