5 Ways to Reward Employees Without Breaking the Bank

Employee turnover can be extremely high - keeping your employees’ happy is almost as important as keeping your customers happy.

The workplace is their home away from home, and studies show that Generation Y’s greatly value incentives and recognition outside of a simple pay raise. Benefits and pay raises aren’t in the same playing field as employee growth and development - take the time to invest and develop your employees. This will boost employee morale, and keep employees happy without costing a fortune. Here are 5 tips on how to reward employees without breaking the bank.

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1 - Take interest in their future.

Find out what employees are interested in learning and take advantage of affordable online courses! Treat them to online courses that they can take in their spare time. Online universities like 360training, Typsy, and Simplilearn are great sources of education that employees can also use outside of work!

Using Human Capital Management software to keep track of your employees’ likes will give you the opportunity to continuously support their growth and improvement. Investing in your existing employees is an opportunity to reward them for their excellent work. The key is to take interest in their life outside of work. Who knows, you might be looking at your future manager!

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2 - Provide personal perks

Who doesn’t love work perks? Have employees complete a questionnaire that includes what their favourite foods, restaurants, and activities are. Take advantage of the benefits of HCM software to make notes of when employees are doing well. With tangible results to evaluate, reward or surprise your employees of a job well done with gift certificates to their favourite activities. Top employee gifts serve as an excellent way to appreciate your team's hard work and dedication.

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3 - Listen to them.

We all know that there’s nothing worst than working for someone that doesn’t listen to you! There is a huge difference between just listening, and actively listening. Employees are the first point of contact to your customers. Listen attentively to what they have to say, and implement their suggestions when they make sense. They’ll be happy when they believe their contributions are making an impact!

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4 - Recognition is key.

Hard work should always be noted. Understandably, working in the restaurant industry can be rewarding but mentally exhausting. Praise employees on their patience, and appreciate what they do to go above and beyond - especially  with exceptional customer service! Recognizing your employees’ hard work doesn’t cost you a dime, and it reminds them of your appreciation.

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5 - Take advantage of rewards programs.

Probably the biggest justification for shopping is: points. Majority of credit cards offer a points based reward system, where you get points for (usually) every dollar you spend. Use your credit card as frequent as possible, and reward employees with a work outing to the movies, or to the bowling alley!

If you’re an American Express user, they also offer a payroll by credit card program!No, we are not saying that you are supposed to solely focus on the happiness of your staff, but you should definitely make it a priority. Owning and managing a business is often like building a puzzle; it’s a process.

Pieces won’t fit, and it’ll be a headache; but when all the pieces fit together, it’s a beautiful picture.