Recognition & Rewards

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Although the future of the workplace remains uncertain, one thing is for sure - flexible and remote work options have become the new normal. In our unforeseen pandemic reality, companies are faced with redefining the notion of “business as usual” - as business activities are now happening at dining room tables and living room couches. Although remote work is nothing new, the number of companies that perform business operations outside of the traditional office has skyrocketed. 

While the shift towards remote work is a learning curve for both employers and employees alike, with the right tools in tow, work can happen just about anywhere. In addition to being productive, keeping employees motivated and engaged can also be achieved while working from home. For example, Qarrot let’s managers and colleagues recognize great work no matter where they’re working. Plus, our automation makes it easy to keep your program running even when you’re not all under the same roof.  So, you’ll be well-armed to keep both your employees and business thriving in our new remote reality. 

Foster a digital workplace culture 

The task of creating a workplace culture is no longer constrained to office parties or casual Fridays. Instead, companies now have to craft the same experience, digitally - a culture that can exist without geographical limits. Luckily, with Qarrot, you can create a recognition rich environment that encompasses every member of your team near and far. A collective approach to rewards and recognition is a sure-fire way to keep your employees engaged while fostering a supportive work culture. During these unfamiliar times, streamlining internal communications and transparency is imperative. Qarrot also features custom badges and rewards you can create to further solidify your organization's unique core values. 

Related Article: Customize your rewards and recognition process with Qarrot 

Reward employees instantly  

Celebrating employees when they achieve goals both big and small is a great way to boost confidence and morale. When it comes to choosing a rewards and recognition process, the most effective ones will deliver rewards promptly. If there is a lag time between recognizing and rewarding an employee, there is a loss in momentum that can sidetrack future employee motivation. When employees redeem their points earned in the Qarrot reward catalog, digital gift cards are immediately sent to their email. If they are redeeming a company-provided reward, the details are instantly sent to the appropriate contact who is responsible for reward distribution. You can also update your rewards catalog and budget at any time. Qarrot makes rewarding your employees easy and instant - no office required. 

Incentivize employees with objective-driven campaigns 

Qarrot makes keeping track of multiple incentive campaigns and teams a breeze - no matter how widely dispersed. You can create incentive campaigns that measure whatever objective you like and award your employees with both points and badges. Campaigns are conveniently enabled with gamification features - so employees can keep score with their colleagues through the leaderboard and see each others’ campaign awards and recognitions. Managers can easily create incentive campaigns for their own teams, and team members can upload their own results. 

Related Article: 6 mistakes that kill employee motivation 

Monitor campaign and employee progress 

Keeping track of your employees’ progress - whether that's individual accomplishments or campaign performance - can also be done remotely with Qarrot. Admins and Team Leads in charge of automatic campaigns can view both the progress reports and results of their respective campaigns. They also have the option to export that information to Excel. You can review all points and badges earned by an employee through an employee's activity history, or by generating a points/badges earned report. No matter how many employees, teams, or incentive campaigns you may be juggling, Qarrot makes it easy to monitor everyone's progress. Plus, keeping an eye on employee activity means you can learn exactly what motivates your team members and drives performance. 

Discover how your team can benefit from peer-to-peer recognition - book a demo with Qarrot today! 

Rewarding and recognizing employees is both a powerful tool for reinforcing desirable behaviors and for strengthening company values and culture. Celebrating those individuals who exhibit favorable attitudes boosts both workplace culture and internal communications. From increasing employee morale to organizational loyalty, every member of your team can benefit from working in a recognition-rich environment. 

But how can you ensure that your recognition process packs a punch? Offer your employees a process that accurately reflects the goals, vision, and core values of your organization. Tailoring your process to fit your company's unique needs fosters engaged employees—who may otherwise be unresponsive to a more generic approach. The opportunity to create and customize your own program also gives managers the ability to learn what does—and what does not— motivate their teams. 

Related Article: Signs it’s time to automate your rewards and recognition program 

One size rarely fits all—and the same can be said for recognition programs. Here at Qarrot, we believe in rewarding and recognizing your people on your own terms. As a manager or supervisor, you should be able to customize and update your recognition process as you see appropriate. Here are a few ways that Qarrot enables a custom, unique rewards and recognition solution tailored specifically to your team. 

Custom Badges  

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Badges can be attached to recognitions or used as campaign awards. Admins can create badges based on any theme —so your creative license can run wild! Perhaps you want to create a badge for a monthly team challenge or quarterly sales target. Or maybe you’d like to create badges for each of your company’s core values. Once named, you can enter a brief description of the badge, explaining the award in more detail. You can then select an image from our library that best captures the essence of the badge, or you can upload your own image. 

Custom Rewards 

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Your rewards and recognition process should be customizable at all points - including the rewards themselves. The Qarrot catalog hosts a large selection of e-gift cards from over 20 countries, but if you’re looking to further customize your rewards you can create as many company-provided rewards as you like. These can be any product, service, or benefit that your company wishes to provide. For example, days off, lunch with the boss, and company swag are common themes. Once you have given your reward a name, for example “Morning coffee and bagels on the boss”, add an accompanying description, image, and point value. Custom rewards are a unique way you can complement and reinforce existing company culture. 

Related Article: 5 ways your workplace can motivate employees 

Integration with existing tools 

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Your recognition process should also be easily accessible for admins and employees alike—so we’ve enabled Qarrot to integrate easily with your existing HR and communications tools. If your team is already using BambooHR, you can easily sync your employee database with Qarrot. This means no manual updating, adding, or deleting employees— reducing the administrative load. You also have the option of connecting Microsoft Teams and Slack accounts to Qarrot. This enables activities such as recognitions and campaign awards to appear directly within dedicated channels on those applications—providing an easy, hands-free way that keeps everyone in the loop. 

Add your organizational branding 

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Part of having a rewards and recognition program that compliments your organization is that it also feels like part of your organization. Qarrot makes it easy to customize your company account with logos and color schemes of your choice. From the Settings page, SuperAdmins can easily import custom logos to their Qarrot account and select choices from our color palette. Colors and logos can be updated at any time, so your recognition program can always be tweaked to reflect your current branding. 

Learn how to make any of these customizations in your own Qarrot account by visiting our support page: 

• Create a custom badge
• Create a custom reward 
• Connect Qarrot with BambooHR
• Connect Qarrot with Microsoft Teams 
• Connect Qarrot with Slack 
• Add organization branding 

Empower your employees’ by recognizing company core values - book a demo with Qarrot!

An effective employee rewards and recognition program is one of the most powerful tools any organization can wield when it comes to employee experience. Ensuring employees feel valued and appreciated is an essential human need in any workplace. Since employee recognition has been linked to increased productivity, performance, and morale, you will be hard-pressed to find a company that does not recognize a job well done. 

But how do you know when your team is outgrowing an existing reward and recognition process? Whether that is to account for various project teams, remote employees, or diverse rewards. It is important that whatever your process looks like, it can accurately reflect and deliver based upon your company's and employee's unique needs. 

Related Article: How to foster a culture of transparency with a rewards and recognition program

An automated approach to employee rewards and recognition will drive performance while freeing up more of your valuable time. If you find yourself identifying with any of the following scenarios, it may be time to take your rewards and recognition process online. 

You’re suffering from administration overload 

Automated rewards and recognition programs should be an engaging and seamless experience that doesn’t weigh anyone down with administrative tasks. Traditional recognition processes usually result in one manager or supervisor carrying the administrative burden that eats up far too much of their time. Many of these tasks - like campaign tracking or reward distribution - can be left to an automated process. Spend your time celebrating employee success instead.

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 "...used to spend 75% of my time managing incentive payouts, now reduced to 20%" - Misha Moore,
Qarrot user at Dell Technologies

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You’re interested in a collective approach 

Unlike traditional approaches to employee recognition, the best recognition programs involve every employee at every level. Rather than solely dedicating recognition to managers or supervisors, adopt a tool that will enable collective recognition. Introducing a process that is accessible to every employee throughout your organization boosts company culture - improving both employee morale and loyalty. Peer-to-peer recognition programs give all employees a voice - enabling them to praise colleagues instantly, and not in an exclusively monetary way. 

Related Article: Benefits of Positive Reinforcement in the Workplace 

You want insights 

Regardless of which automation tool you choose, it should be equipped with the ability to issue reports or statistics reflecting how employees are using the platform. How often are people being recognized? Are there particular achievements or goals that receive more recognition than others? How many, or how often, are rewards being redeemed? This knowledge will help paint a picture of how your team members respond best to recognition. After all, the point of a rewards and recognition system is to keep employees engaged and motivated - so you want to make sure your employees are responsive.  

You want rewards made easy

The journey from recognizing employees and accumulating points to finally redeeming rewards should not only be easy, but instant. If a recognition isn’t timely, a disconnection may grow between the employee’s accomplishment and the associated reward - which can be confusing and frustrating. The best rewards and recognition tools will have an online catalog to host a variety of rewards that employees can choose from and receive instantly. This will ensure that employees get the rewards they want promptly and takes the task of reward distribution off your plate.

Drive better employee engagement and productivity with Qarrot - book a demo today! 

As a manager or team lead, identifying opportunities for improvement, streamlining efficiency, and giving employees feedback are everyday tasks. On the opposite side of the coin, it is also your responsibility to recognize hard work, celebrate employee wins, and lead a motivated and engaged team.

Positive reinforcement is one of the easiest and most effective ways to boost employee morale and performance. Time and time again, we are told that employees flourish in a supportive environment. Recognition and care of your team will ensure they feel not only supported but thrive within your organization.

Related Article: 6 ways to reward your employees beyond their bank account 

The Benefits of Positive Reinforcements in the Workplace

There are a variety of ways you can go about instilling discipline and a strong work ethic into your team, but very rarely will negative reinforcement foster desired outcomes or behaviours. 

In addition to keeping your team motivated and encouraged, there are a wide array of benefits from adopting positive reinforcement techniques : 

• Celebrating employees for their hard work will boost their self-esteem, meaning they will be more enthusiastic about their work and more likely to collaborate with others
• Employees who feel valued and appreciated exhibit greater retention and organizational loyalty 
• Positive reinforcement clearly defines and communicates desired behaviors while strengthening the relationship between performance and recognition 
• Employees whose performance is rewarded or recognized are more open to learning new techniques, skills, and taking on additional responsibility
• Recognizing those employees who manage their time effectively will increase productivity and efficiency 
  

The summation of all of these benefits-improved attitudes, communications, and employee performance -- results in a company culture that is untouchable.

Organizations that fail to recognize employee accomplishments will leave team members feeling unappreciated - and unappreciated employees rarely stick around long, let alone challenge or truly apply themselves at work.

Toxic work cultures are known to plague employees with unwarranted stress and fatigue, ultimately leading to burnout and exhaustion. The verdict is in; healthy and supportive work cultures are the only way to go, and positive reinforcement can help you achieve just that! 

Related Article: 5 ways your workplace can motivate employees

Practicing Positive Reinforcement With Recognition

As explored in our blog post about recognition and retention, one of the leading reasons people leave an organization is because they do not feel appreciated or valued.

Acknowledging an employee’s or a colleague’s work and fostering a recognition-rich environment is a simple way to practice positive reinforcement. Routinely celebrating work milestones and team goals encourages positive interactions - cultivating a culture where employees feel supported and valued. 

The avenues you can take when it comes to practicing positive reinforcement with your team are endless. As long as it is direct and sincere, your organization will reap the benefits of a motivated and supported team.

Finding the perfect balance between how and when to recognize team members will encourage them to challenge themselves while remaining confident in their abilities. Praise your employees for heading in the right direction, and your organization will follow suit. 

Learn how you can reward employees on your own terms - book a demo with Qarrot!

In today's reality of widespread freelance work and the tricky task of attracting top talent, companies are constantly evaluating creative ways to keep employees engaged. From flexible workspaces to dog-friendly offices  -  no idea seems too far fetched if it means maintaining employee loyalty. 

You may be surprised to learn, however, that simply recognizing your employees for a job well done should be enough to keep them around. In fact, according to research gathered from Gallup, the number one reason employees leave a job is because of a lack of recognition.

The people behind your business are the company's greatest asset and should be treated as such. For those who prioritize and focus on peer recognition, the end result is well worth the initial investment. 

Collective recognition 

Recognition in the workplace, in addition to motivating and encouraging employees, ultimately aids in fostering a positive and inclusive environment. Most importantly, it should leave your employees feeling valued. Who would want to stay with a company where they feel like their work is not appreciated? Nobody - exactly. Strengthen employee recognition even further by approaching it from every corner of your organization - from individuals to specific project teams and managers. Encouraging peer recognition from every nook and cranny of your company ensures consistency while also reinforcing alignment with company mission and values. The stronger an employee identifies with company mission and values, the more likely they are to be engaged and help create a positive corporate culture. 

Related Article : 6 mistakes that can kill employee motivation 

Leverage technology  

Technology is not only a great medium for delivering employee recognition, but it can also help you learn more about your employees and what actually motivates them. Here are a few simple ways you can leverage tech to promote a recognition-rich environment that keeps everyone engaged! 

• Send questionnaires or polls throughout your company to learn what kinds of recognition are validating for your employees and what drives them in their position
• Adopt an employee recognition platform that can automate your processes and take administrative pressure off your plate
• Consider tying gamification aspects into your recognition process to encourage teamwork and friendly competition between employees 
• Avoid recognition hierarchy that simply moves from management and below; promote a level recognition playing field between colleagues 

The cost of poor recognition 

It will not take very long for your employees to start looking at exploring their options if they feel like their hard work is not being appreciated, let alone rewarded. The cost of a poor employee retention rate and onboarding far outweighs the costs of implementing a recognition and rewards process. 

When it comes to employee recognition and retention, the numbers don’t lie ; 

According to findings from Gallup, only one-third of employees feel like they are recognized for a job well done at work. Perhaps even more concerning is that 65% of employees report having no recognition whatsoever.

Findings from revealed that highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to look for work elsewhere compared to their unengaged colleagues. 

A staggering 47% of employees searching for work elsewhere cite poor company culture as the main culprit for wanting to leave a current position.

Based on studies from Bersin & Associates, companies who leverage recognition programs are better equipped to handle employee engagement and have a 31% lower turnover rate. 

When it comes to the cost of onboarding, The Center for American Progress reports an average cost of 16% - 213% of a position's salary just to find a replacement. 

Related Article : 6 ways to reward your employees beyond their bank account 

Although welcoming new members to your team is always exciting, it would be pretty disappointing to learn that previous colleagues left because of something as simple as recognition. Recognizing your employees does not have to be an expensive spectacle - a quick email highlighting an individual and their work is an easy way to acknowledge team members. Regular turnover and routine onboarding are expensive endeavours in terms of time, money, and resources. The sooner an organization can realize the important role recognition plays in the employee experience, the sooner they will benefit from a fully engaged and loyal team. 

Discover the benefits of peer recognition and rewards yourself! Book a demo with Qarrot!

In today's ultra-competitive recruiting and hiring environment, retaining current employees is a crucial component of your business’s success. While a good salary is a strong start, monetary compensation is not the only way to reward — and, most importantly — keep your employees.

The evolving nature of today’s workforce demands that employers look for more creative ways to attract and retain talent. Increasingly, flexibility, purpose, growth opportunities, and belonging factor into prospective and current employees’ decision-making about where they work. None of these necessitates a big price tag. However, for many organizations, they represent a shift in thinking and attitude around how employees are managed and how business is conducted.

Here are six recommendations for improving your employee experience without breaking the bank.

Offer flexible schedules, work-from-home options, time-off rewards

Each employee’s life is likely to be different, so one-size-fits-all scheduling can be restrictive. What seems ideal for a twenty-something part-time student may not be the dream schedule for a working parent who lives in the suburbs. Allowing for flexible work hours not only reduces the need for micro-managing timesheets, but it also alleviates some pressure from your workers. If a sudden traffic jam strikes, they should not come running into the office, panicked, in fear of being reprimanded for being late.

The same mentality should apply for work-from-home options. It can be built into your employment offer, to be used at the employee’s discretion, or as a reward, based on seniority, sales goals/quotas, etc. Additional personal days can be calculated and accumulated on the same basis.

While this loose structure may seem like chaos to some, it’s important to note that the kind of employees any hiring manager wants to onboard and keep are not going to be the type to abuse these privileges. A little trust can go a long way in making the right type of worker feel valued.

Provide opportunities for training

Continuous training is an important component in keeping employees engaged because it can help reduce complacency and stagnancy. If you allow your team opportunities to build on their knowledge and training, they will feel challenged, and in turn, bring better results to their role.

Consider allowing for training outside of their respective field as well. Learning and developing skills outside their role may not only build confidence in your workers, but it may also show you rising stars you didn’t know you had among your team. This can include conferences and events in your area, as well as training capsules hosted by various teams in your organization.

Recognize large and small achievements

Employees should be rewarded when they meet large goals as well as smaller milestones. Being genuine in recognition is key, and this is especially true when it comes to acknowledging your employee’s accomplishments. Your people want to feel valued for their hard work, but they do not want to feel infantilized for submitting a report on time, or following email etiquette correctly.

Giving verbal recognition in a public way, such as during a team meeting, can be a good option. Use a meeting to formally recognize someone’s efforts or results, if they are the type of person to be comfortable with that type of attention. Some employees may find more genuine value in private recognition.

Choosing the right achievements is key. Pick moments that feel natural — if you were in their shoes, what types of acknowledgments would you like to receive?

Reduce supervision

Employees appreciate independence. Autonomy taps into a deeper, more personal motivation, and boosts creativity and productivity which leads to a more successful business. When an employee or team has proven they’re highly capable, sometimes the best reward is to be trusted to continue performing well with reduced oversight.

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Be sure to not fall into the false “no news is good news” trap, however — check in with your team regularly, but strive for a more hands-off where possible. They will continue to feel your trust, but not feel forgotten.

Catered lunches

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it’s a classic for a reason. Free lunch, whether frequent or occasional, is a simple and effective perk. It brings your team together in a more social way, instead of having them all scatter off to various fast food counters in the neighborhood on their break. By assembling everyone in one place for mealtime, you help build a sense of camaraderie amongst your team. Positive workplace relationships are a huge part of a happy work-life for any person.

Bonus tip —choose healthier food options. Healthier diets create healthier employees, so encouraging better health choices can reduce the need for sick days and increase productivity.

Fun social events

Team-building activities are a great way for employees to get to know each other better. Leaders that create a more socially engaged workforce can keep their teams working well together longer.

Celebrating team or company achievements and milestones with a party is another great way to encourage teamwork. It doubles as recognition for an individual’s role in this larger-scale success, as well as pride in being part of a team with successes worth celebrating.

Timing is everything

While all these recognition tools can be successful, it’s important to use them with intention. They should not be used as a consolation prize when a promotion or raise is deserved, or as a last-ditch effort to boost morale. They are part of an ongoing culture of employee engagement, so be sure to be mindful when you use them. Being genuine and well-timed is the key to any good recognition.

Recognition in the palm of your hands

At Qarrot, we understand the importance of employee engagement. We make employee recognition easy, fun, and effective for small to mid-sized organizations by providing a complete solution.
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Book your demo today to see more about how Qarrot can help you be leaders in employee engagement!

When you work in a department with a fixed budget for people processes it can be difficult to get granted more of what you need without a good argument. Recently we were speaking with a client who, in part, said: “…originally we had thought we didn’t have the budget for our employee recognition program, but after careful consideration, we realized we couldn’t afford NOT to have the program in place.”

What exactly did he mean by this? This got us here at Qarrot thinking, what are the reasons it makes more financial sense to have a program for employee recognition? Are rewards not enough?

Employee recognition when done well can have an extremely positive return on investment. Here are 5 areas of your business that can be negatively affected without recognition.

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Engagement

Employee engagement, or the commitment your employees have to your organizational goals is the biggest area of concern. The topic of employee engagement gets a lot of attention in HR departments, with team leaders and management in general. When employees become disengaged, their productivity lowers, meaning they don’t invest as much effort into their work. This can have a costly impact on revenue generation, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. When you focus on recognizing employees for their contributions and accomplishments, you boost morale and motivate better work creating a healthier overall work environment for employees.

Retention

Your ability to retain good employees is critical. Not only is recruiting and onboarding expensive, but high turnover impacts the morale of the remaining employees, causes lost productivity and organizational knowledge. If employees don’t receive regular recognition, chances are they will feel underappreciated. An unappreciated employee could feel they don’t offer value to their organization and eventually move on to somewhere they are recognized for their efforts. Manager recognition and peer-to-peer recognition should be an ongoing practice. Similarly, if an employee doesn’t receive regular constructive feedback from their manager, they may think their time and effort isn’t appreciated, or worse, worth it. Employee recognition fosters appreciation and can go a long way to retaining the employees you have.

Recruiting

Recognition programs do more than just recognize the value an employee offers through their work, they also reinforce how an employee lives the values established by your company culture. This creates a sense of loyalty amongst your employees and makes them more likely to respond favorably when opportunities for advancement are offered. This works well with your succession plan. What’s more is that when you encourage a culture of appreciation, the importance of behavioral recruiting becomes evident. Hiring the best candidate based on both performance and culture-fit helps ensure they will enjoy working with your company longer.

Motivation

Lack of recognition can dampen motivation and is a factor in employees becoming disengaged. Employees who have been recognized for their positive behavior are more likely to exhibit those behaviors again. Incentivizing achievement through recognition can go a long way in motivating an employee to bring their best efforts to work each day. Employees appreciate when their efforts are recognized. This open dialogue also encourages communication inspiring employees to offer their ideas and suggestions. Innovative and collaborative cultures are breeding grounds for enthusiasm. Enthusiastic employees are highly motivated to set and achieve goals, both for themselves and the company as a whole.

Sales

Employee recognition programs with leaderboards play directly to the competitive nature of the sales environment. Offering incentives such as prizes or rewards to motivate sales teams is a common practice in many organizations but fiduciary recognition isn’t the only motivator in a sales department. Anyone can sell some of the time, but successful sales departments have to perform consistently. One bad month can kill overall company profits and send your shareholders into a tailspin. Recognizing sales achievements and employees that meet or exceed their goals is the best motivator there is.

In short, not recognizing your employees’ milestones can affect an organization's bottom line in a variety of ways. Disengaged, unmotivated, uncommitted employees who do not feel valued will never give you their best work no matter how much you reward them. While rewards can certainly provide short-term motivation, they do not generally drive long-term engagement.

Your best option is to develop a recognition program that combines both rewards and recognition. Ready to see how our Qarrot can help boost your organizational success?‍

Book a demo or download our Guide to Launching Your First Employee Recognition Program.

Your workforce is the heart of your business, but if they are not properly motivated to be sales and service minded, you could be losing opportunities and potential revenue.

One way organizations are motivating their staff is to create rewards and recognition programs. It may seem that awarding top performers should be a no-brainer but many still do not, or if they do their rewards and recognition program remains, primarily, a manual process. Companies without a solution are using email and spreadsheets to manage these services, but identifying top performing employees, and keeping them motivated to do their best work, is a big job, and can quickly encumber be abandoned by those running them if not thought through.

So, how do we build a better reward campaign and make the entire program easier to run?

Ask yourself why!

There are endless resources to suggest that an engaged workforce is a more productive workforce, but knowing the precise business objectives you are trying to achieve is something of a different story.Since every industry has its own policies and procedures, and each company is as unique as the people in them, there is no one-size-fits-all for defining business objectives.

Starting with the question why, will help you to design a process that supports your outcomes.

• Are you looking to raise sales volume throughout your organization?
• Would you like to increase your overall company morale?
• Do you want to raise the productivity of your workforce?
• Have you considered a program to promote your company culture?
• Do your employee engagement levels need work?
• Did you say yes to all the above?
• Setting your performance targets ahead of the game will take the guess-work out of rewarding staff for their accomplishments.

Ask yourself who?

Once you know the benchmarks you need your workforce to strive for, you need to find a reward that can motivate them. Never underestimate the power a genuine “Thank You” can have on morale, but it is also important to note its delivery.

Awarding your staff with rewards is a good way to acknowledge the effort your employees have put into achieving the goals you’ve set for your organization. When determining what you will offer as the incentive, you can be creative, thinking outside of the box, but it’s best to keep employee values top of mind.

‍As the millennial generation overtakes their boomer parents in the workforce, business owners need to realize that these new generation workers have been known to value incentives over salary.

Rewards should be something that matters to the employees earning them; time off of work, preferred parking, travel bonuses, and gifts are amongst the popular choices. But we’ve also heard of handwritten notes, new equipment for the office, and charitable contributions made on an employee’s behalf, as well as any form of public recognition to be highly motivating.

Find a solution that works!

Even the best thought-out strategies can be tedious to manage without a proper solution behind them. Investing in a program that is easy to use, quick to set up, and is customizable is a personal decision, but a product like Qarrot is a flexible employee recognition platform designed to be used as an engagement and motivation tool.

The dashboards are easy to use, and alleviate administrative effort by centralizing recognition in one place, eliminating email clutter, automating most processes, and removing time-consuming manual processes, resulting in less friction when earning and cashing in on rewards.

Qarrot is more than a rewards system, it operates a SaaS-based employee motivation and engagement platform for all industries. Its platform enables users to recognize employee accomplishments, launch goal-based campaigns and to celebrate milestones like birthdays and work anniversaries.

Get buy-in from management!

Truthfully, once you’ve implemented a system that removes the manual processes, and offers real-time reporting tools to help set and meet business objectives, it’s pretty easy to get managers to use it. If you are still using a legacy system, coming up with creative ways to get leaders to engage with your employees is key to motivating them.

‍Helping employees to understand the impact their performance has on the organization’s goals is essential to helping your workforce see the value they bring to the company. By providing clear expectations of behavior, performance and outcomes you can have managers communicate these expectations to employees. This way there is a clear connection between what managers say are important attributes and what behavior is actually rewarded

Simplify reporting!

A good solution will provide targeted reporting for you. Setting and meeting goals to establish a link between effort and value is crucial to determining a real ROI for the program. Stakeholders will require these reports regularly and your system should take the guess-work out of providing them.

Don’t forget to measure the impact on both employees and the company. Everything from revenue, absenteeism, productivity, engagement levels, and retention can be affected by a well-executed rewards program.

‍Understanding what information is important to which stakeholders will help make reporting easier too. The sales department may want your recognition and performance reports to identify employees deserving of a promotion, for example, where your finance department may want the overall expense report.

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Request A Demo

An employee recognition program, like Qarrot, can help you to leverage your workforce to increase sales, customer service and overall employee satisfaction. Keeping it simple, but useful, with your workforce’s values in mind will not only help you get more out of your rewards program but make it easier for you to manage overall.

‍Request your free demo of Qarrot today!

A recent Harvard Business Review article looks at the three myths of feedback. Sometimes referred to as the “Feedback Fallacy”, it’s interesting to learn that subjective feedback - from a manager to her employee, for example - often doesn’t produce the performance improvements most of us have been taught to expect.

In fact, it may be that improving employee performance is best achieved by focusing on their existing strengths and key accomplishments. Wait, what?!

That’s right: According to HBR, focusing on correcting gaps or deficiencies impairs learning. Whereas, focusing on what your employee is already good at catalyzes learning. Moreover, praising an employee for a strong performance or a great outcome focuses their attention on what worked, helping them further strengthen that ability.

Show your employees more appreciation this year

What better time to start applying this approach to employee performance improvement than on Employee Appreciation Day?

This year, National Employee Appreciation Day falls on March 1st. Since first introduced by Dr. Bob Nelson in 1995, this day provides an excellent opportunity for employers to create a culture of appreciation and express their gratitude towards their hard-working employees. After all, employees are, arguably, your most valuable asset.

Critically, appreciation should not be limited to one or two days a year. The more you build appreciation into your company culture, the greater the outcomes you can expect. Start by using  Employee Appreciation Day as a  “preview” or “trailer” for the types of behaviors you want your organization to employ all year round. Of course, March 1st is the “big event”, but there’s no reason it can’t be a springboard for a larger, long-term initiative.

With that in mind, here are recommendations for a great Employee Appreciation Day:

It's the small stuff that counts

It’s easy to take note of bit accomplishments like closing a new deal or launching a new product. Often times, it’s all the little steps it took to get there, and all the extra team members who contributed that go unrecognized. When you “don’t sweat the small stuff” someone else usually does, and wouldn’t it be lovely to be recognized for that?

Whose reward is it anyway?

Sure, it’s always nice to order in food or take the team out for lunch, but what’s new about that? Reach out to your employees and let them choose. Brainstorm ideas that combine two rewards like an outing and food, or an activity and drinks. As a bonus, this can easily double as a team-building activity with fun challenges, leaving your team closer and talking about the event for years to come.

Shake up the pattern

A recent study done by the Huffington Post showed that the average person spends 13 years and 2 months, or 4,821 hrs, at work. This doesn’t include the extra time spent checking emails, prepping for meetings, and planning weekly to-do lists. This Employee Appreciation Day, consider rewarding employees by giving back some hours. Offer a paid day off, whether it’s this Friday or a different day of their choosing.

Keep it personal

Nothing is more meaningful than personal recognition. Employees can get caught up in their day-to-day work, allowing anxieties to brew. The moment someone shakes them up with a genuine ‘thank you’, any self-doubt is reduced and new confidence is sparked. This can be done in many ways, whether it’s through individual thank-you cards, in person with a grateful handshake, or an announcement to the team, you can bet it’ll go a long way.

Keep the party going

If you’re feeling cramped by a 1-day event, why not celebrate all month long. This leaves room for contests, multiple outings, and company-wide inclusion. Whether it’s one-by-one or all at once, showing appreciation to your employees leaves them motivated and productive. In turn, the rewards your company will receive will be higher morale, productivity, performance, and retention. This Employee Appreciation Day set the bar high for a productive year and see where it takes your team - the sky’s the limit! If you missed this year’s Employee Appreciation Day, don’t worry! You can show appreciation all year long with Qarrot. Connect with us to learn more about how to make recognition a part of your company culture.

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Sources

• ‍Forbes.com - 5 Ways to Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day
• ‍Entrepreneur.comBlog.hubspot.com - Employee Appreciation Day Ideas