Rewards and recognition

Rewards and recognition

Rewards and recognition are some of the factors that keep employees going in an organization. The productivity level of employees is likely to increases if they perceive the employer appreciates them. At times, merely awarding employees bonuses, a group trip may not be enough. In the long-run, they will be used to the bonuses or even the group trips, and these may not keep them engaged (Singh, 2018). Traditional rewards systems can only keep employees motivated for a short period, but if employers need to boost the morale of employees for and keep them motivated in the long-term, then they need to come up with innovative employee benefits. For employers to offer employees creative benefits, they need to remain current on the factors affecting employees both directly and indirectly. Once these needs have been determined, then benefits that mitigate these needs should be offered. Besides, recognizing employees’ need for creativity as well as the achievement of personal goals is another approach that employers can use to boost employees’ morale.

How innovations in employee benefits can enhance the overall competitive compensation strategy of an organization

Nowadays, there are constant changes as well as shifts in every aspect of life. Consequently, these changes not only affect the manner in which organizations conduct their business but also affects both the social and economic aspects of employees’ lives. Innovation in employees’ benefits is one of the factors that help organizations retain top talent as well as stay in business. This is because the needs of employees keep changing day in day out, and without the company restructuring its benefits packages, their employees are more likely to be snatched with their competitors. Therefore, coming up with innovating ways of employee motivation is one of the ways organizations can enhance their overall compensation strategy hence becoming competitive and retain talented employees.

According to the studies conducted by Stephen Miller, one of the factors that can be used to determine if the compensation strategy of an organization is competitive is the number of new talents and organization has attracted, as well as the number the firm can retain (Miller, 2016). The study also established that altering the benefits package to fit the changing needs of employees is one of the ways employers can use to attract as well as retain employees (Miller, 2016). Therefore, this may be a clear indication that coming up with innovative ways to improve the morale of employees is significant in developing the overall competitive compensation strategy of a firm.

Besides, the engagement, as well as commitment levels of employees, tend to increase when an organization has adopted an employee benefit program that is innovative. The fact the commitments of levels of employees increases also indicates that innovations in employee benefits play a massive role in making the compensation strategy or an organization to be competitive. Studies suggest that more engaged and committed employees are more likely to put extra effort as well as take pride even in the simplest tasks they are assigned in the organization (Andrew, 2017). Benefits, once the benefits package is innovative and fulfills the needs of the employees, their thoughts of living the company are always eliminated (Andrew, 2017). They spend most of their time thinking about how they can improve their productivity as well as develop more efficient and innovate ways to solve organizational problems (Andrew, 2017). The fact that innovative benefits packages increase employee commitment and engagement is a clear indication that such programs improve the competitive compensation strategy of an organization.

Further, coming up with innovative benefits programs may play a massive role in increasing both organizational and employee productivity. In has been determined that the employee’s focus on their tasks tends to be divided when they have other issues disturbing them, for example, social issues (Diamantidis & Chatzoglou, 2019). Coming up with an innovative benefit plan can play a huge role in giving employees ample time, as well as the flexibility of handling their social or personal issues (Diamantidis & Chatzoglou, 2019). Once they have put the social or personal factors disturbing them to bed, their workplace availability, as well as their concentration on tasks in more likely to improve hence improving productivity (Diamantidis & Chatzoglou, 2019). An employee who receives such types of benefits from an employee may not contemplate leaving an organization (Ayache & Naima, 2014). This shows that an innovative benefits package improves the overall competitive strategy of a firm.

How to link specific jobs with innovative benefits package

Based on the reports provided by many studies, benefits packages that are tailored to particular duties or tasks can play a huge role in increasing the performance levels of employees (Ayache & Naima, 2014). Employees’ satisfaction with the organization may also be positively improved if they perceived the benefits package they get is directly related to their specific tasks or needs. For employees to feel that the package is linked to their particular jobs, they need to fill that the package is meaningful (Ayache & Naima, 2014). For instance, studies conducted by Jackson established that many younger workers perceive retirement benefits as well as being offered healthcare coverage by their employers as not useful (Jackson, 2017). Therefore, to tie an innovative benefits package with the jobs performed with younger individuals, organizations should offer them other benefit packages.

It has been determined that examples of benefits younger employees value include pet insurance as well as student loan assistance (Jackson, 2017). On the other hand, for jobs or positions filled with older employees, employers should consider offering health care coverage as well as retirement benefits (Jackson, 2017). This is because, as employees age, these factors tend to be more valuable to them.

Besides, there are other several ways in which an organization can link its benefits package with specific jobs; this is because the traditional benefits program has been determined to harm productivity in the long-run (Fuscaldo, 2015). For instance, if an organization is comprised of several departments, and employees in s specific department are supposed to arrive very early or leave very late, then the company can consider offering employees in this department with free transport to and from their homes. On the other hand, if there are employees who work in a department that involves a lot of analysis and sitting down a lot, then the firm can build a gym for such employees and allocate them one or two hours between working hours to attend the gym.

Furthermore, there are certain positions in organizations that have been associated with stress or stress-related conditions, such as hypertension (Fuscaldo, 2015). For example, there are positions that employees may be required to work for extended hours, and this may be stressful (Fuscaldo, 2015). For such positions, the company can help reduce stress by designing diets or exercise programs that may play a massive role in assisting employees in evading costly health conditions.

Comparison of equity-based reward systems versus more creative reward approaches.

For employees to feel that an organization’s reward system is valuable, they need to feel that the system address four major issues, appreciation, compensation, recognition as well as benefits. To achieve these factors, organizations can either decide to use more creative reward systems or equity-based systems. equity-based systems are comprised of non-cash rewards that give employees ownership in organizations (Oxley & Pandher, 2016). These types of reward systems can take many forms, which include performance shares, restricted stocks, as well as stock options (Oxley & Pandher, 2016). This type of reward system can be advantageous in aligning the interests of the organization, employees as well as shareholders.

There are several benefits that organizations using equity-based rewards systems can attain, for example, this system gives employees reason enough to work harder and stay in the company for longer (Oxley & Pandher, 2016). The turnover rate can be reduced as employees have to wait for their share to vest. The performance levels of employees can also increase as they want to see the organization prosper so that their share prices can increase (Oxley & Pandher, 2016). Besides, this method may save the organization money and also grant it tax advantages as it does not require cash. On the other hand, one of the disadvantages of this method is that organizations may find it hard to recruit as well as retain top talent in situations where it’s stock prices are going down. Therefore, although this method may be effective in making employees stay longer in a firm, they may leave once the share prices start to drop. The organization may also find it difficult to attract fresh talented employees.

On the other hand, the more creative approaches are majorly used by organizations in supplementing the primary remuneration employees receive. Innovative approaches can be either monetary or non-monetary or even both. For example, some organizations such as Criteria Corp and Wpromote allow their employees to come with their pets at work and also offer pet insurance to their employees (Wang, 2017). Creative approaches can be considered to be effective as compared to equity-based reward systems because they give employees a chance to live their lives.

Besides, with creative approaches such as paid flexible working hours, employees can effectively balance their work and life hence creating enough time to spend with family and friends (Nolan, 2015). Creative approaches may also be effective because they may play a massive role in making employees believe that their employer cares for them. Although both equity-based and innovative approaches may play an enormous role in driving employee commitment, it may be difficult to retain top talent or attract top-notch employees when organizations are using equity-based systems, especially when the share prices are dropping. Currently, a more significant percentage of the workforce is millennials (Nolan, 2015). This group values more creative approaches as compared to the equity-based reward system. If organizations do not customize their reward systems, someone else will do it for them and poach away employees (Nolan, 2015).

The key elements of integrating innovation into a traditional total reward program

For managers to incorporate innovation into the traditional rewards program, one of the critical elements organizations should consider is employee engagement, especially in designing the rewards systems (Hoole & Hotz, 2016). Engaging employees in designing the reward programs will play a key role in eliminating certain features that employees may consider ineffective. The traditional reward program majorly focuses on tasks and duties; besides, this program also supports a rigid structure leaving no or little room for variations (Vanornum, 2019). In most cases, organizations that use the traditional rewards program perceive that pay increases or even awarding other monetary incentives are the major factors that motivate employees, something that a lot of studies have disapproved (Vanornum, 2019). Therefore, for organizations to change the traditional rewards systems and make them innovative, employees need to be engaged, especially in designing the reward systems.

Besides, flexible, as well as customized benefits, is another element that organizations should consider to incorporate innovation into their traditional total rewards systems. The primary benefits that are found in the traditional systems are health benefits and salaries (Hoole & Hotz, 2016). Although these components need to be included in the total rewards system, managers should consider adding other benefits that are flexible and fit with the needs of the workforce. For example, it has been determined that millennials value pet insurance and contribution to student loans as compared to health insurance (Wang, 2017). Therefore, instead of offering them more traditional benefits such as retirement benefits, firms should consider integrating flexible benefits such as pet insurance.

Besides, for organizations to incorporate innovation in their traditional total rewards programs, tailoring benefits to a specific job is another crucial element that should be considered. In most traditional programs, firms use a one-size-fits-all benefits program (Hoole & Hotz, 2016). This plays a considerable role in demotivating other employees who may feel they are being disadvantaged with the program.

A process that may optimize the employee-based suggestion program to refresh a firm’s total rewards continually.

An employee suggestion program that is well constructed can play a huge role in helping an organization to be effective, especially in refreshing its total rewards programs (Heathfield, 2019). For and organizations to effectively use the suggestions provided by employees to update as well as integrate innovation in its total rewards program, then the process of getting feedback from employees should be marked with a lot of commitment, clarity as well as ongoing communication (Heathfield, 2019). Chances are high that employees are more likely to be turned off with a suggestion process that is undefined, ill-conceived as well as hostile.

For employees’ suggestions to be used in refreshing an organization’s total reward, Heathfield says that the process should begin with organizations determining whether the method being used to get feedback is appropriate. If employees don’t feel safe or they fear retribution, then organizations should consider installing suggestion boxes. The organizations should then set a cross-functional team to review employees’ suggestions and determine how they can be used to improve the total rewards. Besides, the process should also include awards for proposals that were implemented by the firm. This will encourage employees to come up with creative suggestions that can be used to refresh total rewards.

Conclusion

In conclusion, developing innovative employee benefits is one of the factors that organizations can use to make their compensation strategies competitive. Developing competitive compensation strategies is very crucial for firms because it helps them retain talented employees, improve both organizational as well as personal productivity, and also increase employee commitment and engagement. Besides, for organizations to develop competitive compensation strategies, they need to link specific jobs with innovative benefits; for example, firms can do this by offering younger employees with pet insurance instead of retirement benefits. In addition, although both the creative and equity-based rewards systems may be instrumental in improving employee productivity, innovative approaches may be more effective in attracting and retaining employees. Also, some of the elements that organizations should consider in incorporating innovation in their traditional total rewards include employee engagement and also eliminating a one size fits all type of benefits.