7 Ways to Reward Employees Without Giving Them Money

Employees are highly valued members of your organization. They’re instrumental to helping you succeed in your business. Keeping your workers motivated, therefore, is crucial if you want them to stick around your company. One way you can motivate employees is to give them a reward.

When rewarding employees for doing a job well done, some businesses offer regular bonuses and raises. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible for all organizations, especially in today’s economic climate.

The good news is that you can reward your hardworking employees without giving them more money.

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Reward Employees Without Giving Them Money

Here are seven ways to reward your workers in a meaningful way – and without giving them more dollars:

1. Improve Your Existing Employee Benefits

Employee perks can make a person’s workdays more rewarding and pleasurable in the office. They can encourage them to work smarter and harder.

Start by reviewing the employee benefits you’re providing to your workers. You could, for instance, upgrade your employees’ health insurance plans or give them longer lunches. The important thing is that your benefits upgrade should help employees enjoy their job more.

2. Loosen the Reins a Bit

If your employees have been doing a great job lately, consider loosening up your house rules. You could, for example, change the dress code by allowing employees to wear casual clothing on certain days.

Another suggestion is to let people work from home if you haven’t given this opportunity yet. Top employees, for instance, can work at home on specified days of the week.

If someone has made additional contributions to the organization, allow them to go home a few hours early. You can also apply this to people who get their work done early. If an employee works from nine to five and they complete their tasks by three o’clock, you could allow them to leave early. This is an especially great gesture during the summer months.

3. Take Your Workers to Free Lunch

Who doesn’t like free lunch or free food? On top of showing that you care, you’ll be providing employees with some one-on-one time. This is an excellent opportunity to talk shop or get to know one another a little better.

If you’re unable to reserve a restaurant for your employees, you could take lunch to your workers. Catering for your workers is a fantastic way to show them how much you appreciate their efforts.

4. Throw a Party

Consider organizing and hosting a party in honor of the employees who go the extra mile and keep your business running like a well-oiled machine. This kind of social gathering is an excellent way for workers to temporarily forget the day-to-day stress of the job and reconnect with one another on a more personal level.

When planning an employee party, make sure that you’re inclusive. Check the schedule of your workers to determine if your guests of honor can attend. If you need help organizing this corporate gathering, do not hesitate to approach your employees for help planning this event. This way, everyone can have a great time together at the party.

5. Give Employees Additional Responsibility

This reward suggestion may look counterintuitive at first glance, but extra responsibility can be a good way to show workers you value their diligence and appreciate their efforts. What’s more, this is a strong way to express how much you trust your employees’ responsibilities and value their contribution to your company.

Sit down with your workers individually and figure out what roles or jobs they would like to tackle in the future. This will enable you to tailor work opportunities to their talents and interests. Who knows? You may just come across some employees who are eager to take on new or additional work – and are proud or happy to share this information with their colleagues.

6. Provide Learning Opportunities

Another way to reward employees is to give them opportunities to explore seminars or classes that help them become familiar with the other areas of your organization. If you own a restaurant, for instance, your servers may be interested in learning the business operations of your company. Providing them the bridge to learning more helps keep them engaged and make them a more mindful and wiser employee.

Start by searching for classes in your area that fit the individual needs of your employees. Doing so will allow you to open a conversation about learning opportunities with your workers.

7. Offer Sincere and Specific Praise

Give your top employees a shout-out or a simple “thank you” note during meetings. Make sure that you acknowledge tangible achievements. This means quantifying their accomplishments by considering specific metrics. Examples include increases in profitability, contracts won and surges in sales volume.

These seven suggestions will help you reward employees without having to give them money. Whatever you do to honor your valuable workers, make sure that your actions are sincere and authentic.

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