Employee Recognition and Incentives

14/01/2015

Meaningful Incentives for your employees - give your employees the flexibility of choice when saying "Thank You"

06/01/2015

Happy New Year Everyone!!

29/10/2014

With reference from the incentive magazine, there are clear differences between what a reward is and what recognition is. Although rewards and recognition are interchangeably implemented, it is important to realise their differences in order to implement a strategy that works.

The top 8 differences are:
•Rewards are tangible. Recognition is intangible. Whether tangible or monetary, rewards are always something that can be touched and of a specific amount. Recognition is priceless in value and invisible in nature.
•Rewards are transactional. Recognition should always be relational.
•Rewards are simply consumed. Recognition is mostly experienced.
•Rewards are transferable. Recognition is non-transferable.
•Rewards are certainly conditional. Recognition is unconditional.
•Rewards are expected. Recognition is a surprise.
•Rewards are outcome driven. Recognition is focused on behaviours.
•Rewards are fixed. Recognition is flowing: from one employee to the other and can be expanded upon and shared by others.

Your ultimate goal in setting a realistic, achievable recognition programme is clarifying what behaviours and outcomes your organisation values, and then to provide enough motivation to maintain and improve employee performance. Rewards for goals that seem unachievable do not motivate. Empowering and encouraging employees, managers and peers to provide recognition makes recognition practices more effective.

We assist organisations in creating rewards and recognition which are individualised and match your preferences. For a tailor made quote on a reward and recognition programme that is in line with your company objectives, contact [email protected].

06/10/2014

Simplifying your communication to your employees through instant SMSes

Within the very busy schedules of managers and employees, who have deadlines and back to back meetings, there is the challenge of insufficient time allocated to communication; an important element in driving the business message.

SMS solutions provide your business with the advantage of constant communication to always inform your employees of any important company updates and events instantaneously and with a higher ‘read rate’ than email communications.

Features and benefits:
•Send SMSes to individuals and groups from the internet
•Personalise outgoing messages
•Scheduled messages to be sent at a later date
•Appointment reminders and customer service SMS updates
•Notifications and staff communications
•Calendar & schedule alerts
•Enable mobile campaigns to connect with your customers
•Event promotion and alerts

If any of the above services appeal to you, please contact us on [email protected] for competitive rates.

23/09/2014

Why a Peer Nomination Programme could be the Solution to your Employee Engagement Efforts

Research shows that progressive managers are beginning to recognise the power of peer-to-peer recognition with an increasing number of employees being motivated by peer nominations. When employees feel uninspired, it’s usually a good indicator that your recognition efforts aren’t equally received. Employees have shown to deliver more effective feedback, since they have more opportunities to observe their co-workers performance and are more likely to learn from one another.

Mostly, managers are removed from where the work is performed and therefore, rarely see what employees are doing or how they are doing it. Employees need consistent and timely feedback; real time feedback encourages employees to work with a purpose and by providing real-time feedback, you ensure reinforcement of behaviours you value. This is where peer nominations have the benefit of affording your staff equal opportunities to give and receive feedback, thus also creating a culture of fairness.

A peer-to-peer nomination programme allows your team to provide immediate responses for great work, new ideas implemented, embracing company values, customer service excellence or performance areas that need a boost. The recognition aspect of peer nominations is a great way for your team members to inspire one another with positive feedback and a constant ‘strive to improve’ in order to reach nominations.

For assistance in implementing a nominations programme in your company or department, contact Prize Voucher Agency on [email protected]

12/09/2014

Good Leaders Recognise that People are Different

For your employee recognition programme to work; there needs to be executive leadership buy-in, training of managers, as well as support and involvement of all staff throughout the organisation. Leaders and managers need to have this level of understanding if they are to be in a position to motivate staff. You cannot be a leader without followers, so you have to understand how to motivate people to buy into your agenda. However to be a good leader and manager, you need to recognise that people are different.

Motivation is the driving force to an organisation’s desired employee behaviour. Understanding people’s motives – their reasons for doing something - is the key to becoming a good leader. A successful organisation can generally trace its success to motivated employees. An effective recognition programme consists of good leaders who are able to empower employees to create positive change and recognises the need to invest in future good leaders.

PrizeVoucher Agency offers your organisation the opportunity to implement a successful recognition programme that includes guided processes and systems. Contact us today and we can help you reach that goal – [email protected]

12/09/2014

05/09/2014

The Difference between a Monetary and non-Monetary Reward Programme

In recent years, numerous studies have been conducted in an effort to try and identify which rewards employees desire most, and whilst many employers still hold different views on whether non-Monetary rewards are the way to go, it is important to note that value and appreciation have a different meaning to different individuals.

In our many years of experience in offering employee reward programmes to different organisations, we've found that the effectiveness of rewards varies considerably. Although money holds value and is easily understood as a reward to many people, it has an immediate gratification impact but little or no lasting value. Money is quickly spent; often on routine bills and quickly forgotten.

A well constructed employee reward programme offers enough enticing reward choices to encourage each individual to set their own preferences and is designed to understand the value placed on reward incentives. Here are some advantages of a well executed non-monetary programme as per channelincentive.com:

Motivate specific behaviour
Build teamwork
Enable on-going measurement and insight
Establish a unique competitive advantage
Provide lasting value and linkage to achievement
Improve teamwork
Improve administrative efficiency
Increase ROI and profitability

PrizeVoucher Agency offers your organisation, no-matter the size; a tailor made employee reward programme that is built to understand your employees’ motivation stimulus. We encourage businesses to motivate all their employees with an integrated plan that runs across the entire organisation and delivers a flexible wide range of incentives for your employees, ensuring that all preferences are met. Contact us today on [email protected] for your tailor made assessment.

03/09/2014

Gift Card Solutions as Incentives

Is your organisation looking for a proactive approach to incentivise your staff? What better way to show your appreciation than by giving your employees the gift of choice? Your employee reward programme can be customised and offer flexibility to your employees with a gift card in the form of an incentive prepaid cash card.

What is a cash card?
A cash card is a generic gift card (essentially a prepaid debit card) which can be accepted at any retailer and speed point in South Africa.

How does it work?
The card is a signature based magnetic strip prepaid cash card. It can be swiped at any retailer accepting cards in South Africa with the versatility of its use ranging from corporate/employee incentives and business-to-business sales. These cards can be issued in bulk as incentives to corporate clients and/or employees, with the value of the cards loaded remotely.

The card may be issued for:
• An employee incentive programme — a great tool for recognising your employees efforts,
• Applauding a job well done,
• Bonuses and annual awards,
• Rewarding your business associates for choosing to do business with your company, and
• Business travel, to name a few.

Should your organisation be interested in this amazing offer, contact us at [email protected] for more information.

25/08/2014

Why surveys determine the success of your employee reward programme

There are various methods to measure employee engagement including quantitative, qualitative and operational metrics to evaluate how successful your employee reward programme is and the commitment of your employees to your company. Engagement by itself is not enough to increase workforce performance.

Employees also need to understand how the work they do contributes to the organisation's goals and strategy. If employees are motivated but not aligned with strategic objectives, their effort could be wasted. The metrics you choose should be based on the objectives you are trying to achieve, for example, if you want to measure targets reached you can measure sales, but if you want to measure client service you will need to encourage and evaluate client feedback or peer recommendations.

The correct use of surveys affords your company the ability to see how it is functioning from your many different employee perspectives, across the organisation’s structure. It also allows you to recognise your organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, in key areas such as overall employee satisfaction, supervisory effectiveness and performance management.

Surveys allow you to track data over time to determine if improvement implementations are affecting desired areas for change and with specific benchmarks, your company stands to gain better understanding and positive change. It also offers you the opportunity to improve performance by offering useful feedback on areas for improvement.

Prize Voucher Agency can assist you with a comprehensive survey process that involves individually tailored questionnaires, benchmarking with our leading communication plan, customised online reporting, and action planning tools. Contact us today on [email protected]

15/08/2014

What are Sales Channel Incentive Programmes

When attempting to increase sales and create drive amongst your sales team, it is imperative to use a programme that both ignites your employee’s motivation and incentivises them to excel. A well executed channel incentive programme creates a virtuous circle in which both channel partner and vendor are motivated to collaborate to attain improved performance and achieve pre-defined goals.

Additionally important is ensuring that the sales force, are enticed by the rewards they are offered.
Incentives exist to increase sales and the right incentive programmes as well as correct management can make a world of difference.

The purpose of a sales channel incentive programme is to:
•Drive sales targets and KPI accomplishments,
•Better client service and sales excellence,
•Amplify sales referrals and cross-selling prospects,
•Retain high performing sales staff,
•Increase brand loyalty,
•Build on product familiarity and sales capabilities, and
•Grow high margin product sales.

Sales channel incentive programmes are designed to engage and motivate your organisations sales team and to strengthen sales channel partner relationships. No matter your sales objectives or campaign concept, Prize Voucher Agency can assist you in implementing a sales award programme that will get maximum results. Contact us on [email protected] to discuss your needs or to conceptualise ideas.

08/08/2014

8 Ways to Recognise and Reward Service Excellence

Organisations appreciate that a satisfied and committed workforce delivers excellent service; ensuring long-term customer retention and loyalty. Service excellence is an attitude engrained in every department and it begins and ends with your people.

Here are 8 ways (as per Stairway Consultancy) on how to recognise and reward service excellence in your organisation:

Survey Your Staff
Well-conducted surveys are a critical means to challenge assumptions. Your organisation needs to work at understanding its employees and the organisational culture for success. Helpful tools include questionnaires and focus groups.

Provide Training to Managers in Creating a Motivating Climate
Managers have a key role to play in encouraging motivation amongst their team. Successful service organisations provide training to managers in leadership and motivation.

Give Positive Feedback
Reinforce in your managers the need to give positive feedback to your staff. Although sometimes feedback has to be negative, often, how it is communicated can drastically increase employee motivation.

Tailor Service Awards to the needs of the Employees
Recognition, through token or monetary benefits, has to be meaningful to those who receive it.

Establish a League Table of Service Performance
The most effective performance measurement methods are those where recognition is given not just to the top performers but to those people who make the best improvements over time.

Issue Certificates of Achievement
When employees attain defined customer experience standards and skill levels, a certificate or token award can help to demonstrate its importance. A certificate of achievement can become highly prized.

Publicise Examples of Good Service
Every job has a substantial routine element and a company newsletter or e-mail should give service contribution the recognition it deserves. To promote good practice, features on success stories can be a big help to the individuals concerned and to others.

Ensure Team Service Excellence is Recognised
Effective teamwork is at the heart of good service and companies need to encourage team involvement at every level, delegating responsibility.

By recognising and rewarding valued service behaviours and actions, excellence becomes a consistent, premium service at every pass set by a service oriented tone that drives your company strategy at all levels. For assistance in implementing some of these recognition processes contact Prize Voucher Agency on [email protected]