What do you reward ?

Many organisations have a reward system in place through which they recognise the accomplishment or the contribution of outstanding employees. Setting up a good reward system for employees by leaders in an organisation requires a thoughtful approach that balances recognition, motivation and fairness. In a well-designed employee reward system, objectives have to be clearly defined that align with company goals, key behaviours and actions essential to be rewarded have to be identified, key milestones to be rewarded well spelt out and the type of reward properly described. The reward system in tech teams and organisations can slightly vary from what obtains in other organisations as the nature of work somewhat differs.

In a tech team or organisation, its beneficial that leaders focus on rewarding behaviours and achievements that foster collaboration, innovation, efficiency and knowledge-sharing, whilst also promoting continuous learning and alignment with the teams goals. Focusing on this boosts morale, enhances productivity within the team and aligns employee efforts with company goals. For example, rewarding “collaboration and knowledge sharing” in a tech team could mean several things: 1) It could mean that senior engineers or team members who take time to mentor others, share knowledge and help less-experienced colleagues grow are rewarded. 2) It could mean that team members who provide constructive, thoughtful feedback in code reviews that not only ensures quality but also helps others improve their skills are rewarded. 3) It could also mean that team members who work well with other departments such as design, product management or operations in order to improve quality and efficiency will be rewarded. Ensuring that there is a wide range of activities that can be rewarded under the umbrella of ”collaboration and knowledge sharing” in the example above helps to ensure that the reward system is fair and not just a particular employee gets rewarded all the time especially if they are the most skilled in that specific area. Using this method opens up many avenues for various employees to get rewarded.

When implementing a transparent and fair reward system, leaders should understand that different employees are motivated by different rewards and should if possible sometimes be flexible enough to tailor rewards to what motivates the employee. For example, an employee that values time off or flexible hours can be offered to be rewarded with some time off instead of being given a financial bonus. Tailoring rewards to what motivates each employee improves productivity, employee retention and boosts employee morale.

Asides from offering employees extrinsic rewards such as bonuses, salary increases, gifts or time off, great leaders should also offer intrinsic rewards which can be more regular than extrinsic rewards. These intrinsic rewards includes but are not limited to: praises, career development opportunities, acknowledging employee contribution in team meetings and others. Employees offered extrinsic rewards should be allowed to choose whats most valuable to them when possible.

In conclusion, organisations that intend to thrive should create a culture of recognition by encouraging peer-to-peer recognition, celebrate milestones as well as project completions and encourage colleagues or team members to give constructive feedback to each other.