These days, people want to do more than just punch a clock at a job. They want to be invested in a career that fulfills them both personally and professionally.
For employers, this is a massive benefit: when your people are more engaged in their work, they’re subsequently more likely to be consistently productive and to perform at high levels, which can ultimately increase profitability by more than twenty percent.
But this is a double-edged sword. An increased level of investment from your team requires an equally matched commitment by your organization to creating an outstanding employee experience and celebrating their wins.
It takes more than a pat on the back or a celebratory lunch.
If you’re looking for creative and meaningful ways to reward your team’s successes, here are four ideas for you to consider.
How to creatively reward your team in 4 different ways
1. Organize team building events
Putting together events and activities that bring your employees together has become an important part of just about any corporate culture. It can be a memorable way for colleagues to build bonds with each other outside the pressures of work.
A few popular examples include:
- Hosting a dinner or celebration
- An indoor activity away from the office, such as bowling
- Heading outdoors for a group activity like a picnic
- Virtual team building activities
- Giving back to your community as a group
2. Offer personal growth experiences
Whether you provide money that employees can put towards an experience of their choice or you offer specific courses through your company, personal growth opportunities are a powerful reward.
These can include everything from helping your team overcome their fears to supporting them in improving upon a skill that isn’t work-related.
For example, the employee who is afraid of heights may take your reward money and put it towards skydiving or bungee jumping. Of course, if you’ll simply be providing the funds for these types of experiences, it’s always wise to have some sort of approval process in place to ensure that the reward is being used in the way your company envisions.
If you’d rather offer a more structured personal growth reward system, you could have a list of approved courses that employees can take.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Cooking classes
- Speaker series
- Language courses
3. Provide flexible work schedules
When it comes to the modern employee’s work schedule—post-pandemic—flexibility is a necessity to most. As an employer, it’s important to instill trust and loyalty within your team by moving away from the rigid nine-to-five work week of the past.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to shift your entire business to remote work or operate on a four-day week. Offering flexible schedules to your employees actually means the opposite.
In fact, there are several ways that you can choose to offer flexibility to your team, including:
- Hybrid schedules: Encourage your employees to work from home part of the week, and spend the remaining days in person at the office.
- Flex hours: If you have employees working across time zones, this is especially important to consider. Allow your team to work the hours that fit their schedule.
- Shared spaces: With co-working workplaces, like iQ Offices, you can provide a professional community in which you only pay for the space you need.
It’s important to note that with hybrid and flex hour work arrangements, there is the complexity of determining how much office space you require. But with flexible office spaces, you and your team have access to an outstanding office environment equipped with everything you need to maximize your workdays, from conference rooms and private phonebooths to areas where they can relax or connect casually.
This type of workplace also benefits employers in that it allows you to take on a smaller space for less, opening up the ability to reallocate some of your office budget towards rewarding your team in other ways.
4. Invest in their development
While it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of rewarding your employees, investing in their learning and development is one of the most effective ways to retain your talent. In fact, LinkedIn’s 2019 Workforce Learning Report shared that 94 percent of employees would continue working for a company longer if that employer invested in their development.
This is actually a relatively easy reward to provide. You can offer skills-related courses to help them accelerate in their careers. Not only will this help your team feel valued, it can also support them in doing their role better at your organization. Win, win
Getting creative in the ways that you reward your employees not only benefits your team, but it also helps your company thrive. Whether you choose to offer team building activities, personal growth opportunities, flexible work arrangements, or professional development, you can help your employees feel valued in ways that support loyalty and retention.
Providing your team with an outstanding workplace environment is another important way to support and recognize your employees’ commitment to your company. If you’re looking for a hospitality-focused workspace that offers elevated design, a suite of on-site amenities, and a community of like-minded professionals, you’ll find it at iQ Offices. To learn more, book a tour today.
Kane Willmott is the co-founder and CEO of iQ Offices, the largest independent Canadian-owned co-working operator with offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. iQ Offices provides beautiful office spaces with safety, service, privacy and design at the forefront.
