Why rewarding staff loyalty now can be more cost-effective in the long term

Thursday, 10 November 2011 09:40

The long-term benefits of rewarding staff

The long-term benefits of rewarding staff

Productive, hard-working and loyal staff are among the most valuable assets a company can have. Implementing staff loyalty schemes can be an excellent way of making sure that your best employees remain at your firm – but are these worth the expense in the long term?

While rewarding staff may seem like a good but not crucial idea – particularly in difficult economic conditions when money is something that all businesses are monitoring more closely – this is not the case. After all, what is more valuable to your company than your top employees – and what would be the cost if they left?

Staff retention is becoming something that increasing numbers of businesses are realising the importance of. Typically, it costs more to hire new staff members than it does to implement incentive schemes that could encourage your best workers to stay with your firm.

So, over the long-term, the costs of such initiatives may really work in your firm's favour.

Meanwhile, they have the dual benefit of helping to appeal to potential new recruits. After all, if a candidate can see that you really value your existing staff, they may well be all the more eager to join your company – and others may follow suit.

There are numerous ways to reward your workers, including ad hoc gifts, ongoing schemes and long service awards. So, you should be able to find something that will suit your team well.

Indeed, you may discover these steps are good tools when it comes to motivating employees, as well as encouraging them not to seek work elsewhere. For example, ongoing schemes can give staff extra incentives to meet their workplace goals.

You could choose to run these with an online points system, which allows workers to accrue credit over time to then spend in selected top stores, or a Flexecard initiative. The latter involves you topping up a gift card, which they can then use to splash out with on the high street.

Alternatively, ad hoc rewards, which can be given to individual staff members to show appreciation for particularly good work, can also prove effective.

Whichever you choose, you will find that vouchers – be they for popular brands or for travel – are an excellent way to reward your workers. Because they appeal to a wide range of people and give employees lots of reward options, you'll find it is something they really value – and therefore that motivates them more.

So, by spending a little now, you can help to retain key staff and their expertise, and cut down on potentially costly new hires in the future.

 

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