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  • In the age of “quiet quitting,” when employees silently resign without expressing their dissatisfaction, it can have detrimental effects on your business. The subsequential decreased productivity and high turnover rates further negatively impact your organization long term. However, we understand that it may not always be feasible to raise wages, provide bonuses, or offer other monetary incentives as motivators.

    In today’s competitive business landscape, it’s essential your organization understands the importance of recognizing and encouraging your employees beyond monetary rewards. While financial motivators have traditionally been the go-to method for acknowledging employee contributions and are still relevant and valuable motivators, forward-thinking companies are now exploring non-monetary ways to inspire and engage their workforce.

    Beyond a paycheck, bonus, raise, and other financial motivators, alternative approaches can tap into intrinsic influencers such as personal growth and a sense of purpose that profoundly impact employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention. By tapping into alternative methods, you, as an employer, can help foster a culture of appreciation, engagement, and loyalty, ultimately driving higher levels of productivity and employee satisfaction. If you are unsure where to begin, we’ve gathered a few strategies to help get you started.

    The Power Of Non-Monetary Rewards

    Intrinsic motivation refers to an employee’s internal drive to engage in a task or activity. Unlike extrinsic motivation, which relies on external rewards, intrinsic motivation depends on personal fulfillment, a sense of achievement, and enjoyment of the work and work environment. By understanding the power of intrinsic motivation, you can tap into a deeper level of employee engagement.

    Intrinsic motivators or non-monetary rewards have profound psychological benefits that positively impact your employees’ well-being and job satisfaction. When employees receive recognition and rewards that go beyond financial compensation, it fosters a sense of appreciation, validation, and belonging. These rewards can include verbal praise, certificates of recognition, and growth opportunities. Recognition of employees’ efforts affirms their skills and abilities, providing a sense of mastery and competence. Recognition and reward programs can also reinforce a positive work culture, fostering a sense of camaraderie and loyalty among employees. Moreover, non-monetary rewards can align with an employee’s personal and professional goals, creating a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment in their work.

    Additionally, as Gen-Z and millennials continue to bring a fresh perspective to the workplace, it’s crucial to acknowledge their unique expectations. While financial rewards and compensation remain high motivators, these generations seek companies that prioritize flexible work arrangements and provide employee perks such as gym memberships and education stipends. These offerings reflect a genuine dedication to their personal and professional development, which can assist retention efforts.

    Non-Monetary Recognition And Motivation Strategies

    Many non-monetary strategies could benefit your organization. Here are just a few:

    1. Provide meaningful feedback and appreciation: Establish a process to regularly provide constructive feedback and recognition to employees for their achievements and efforts. Offer opportunities for managers and employees to share specific feedback highlighting strengths and accomplishments.
    2. Recognize achievements publicly: Public recognition of accomplishments during team meetings or company-wide announcements can have a powerful impact. It not only boosts the morale of the recognized employee but also inspires others and sets a positive example for the entire organization.
    3. Flexible working: Granting flexibility in where and when employees can work promotes work-life balance and acknowledges employees’ diverse needs and responsibilities outside their professional roles.
    4. Additional leave: Providing bonus days off, extended lunch breaks, and offering options to leave early on Fridays or start late on Mondays are all effective motivators for employees.
    5. Professional development opportunities: Whether internally or through sponsoring professional development opportunities, you can enhance employee motivation and commitment to your business.
    6. Mentorship programs: Similarly to professional development opportunities, providing employees the chance to be mentored by internal managers, C-suite executives, or external programs can significantly impact employee motivation and enthusiasm towards their work.
    7. Team-building activities: Offer opportunities for your employees to collaborate outside of work. Through activities such as game or trivia nights, volunteer days, or team luncheons, you can help foster positive relationships between employees, which helps create a positive work culture.
    8. Wellness programs: Create a work environment that emphasizes the importance of self-care by offering incentives such as workshops, wellness retreats, or mental health days for your employees. By promoting a culture that values well-being, you demonstrate a commitment to supporting your employees beyond their professional responsibilities alone.

    Implementing Non-Monetary Recognition Programs

    In the current hybrid and remote work landscape, it’s become increasingly crucial to discover methods for motivating and acknowledging employees. However, it’s vital to tailor your approach according to your organization’s unique characteristics and needs. Recognizing the individuality of your company ensures that the motivational strategies you choose are effective and resonate with your employees.

    One effective way to tailor your approach is by actively involving your workers through regular surveys and feedback sessions. By gathering valuable insights and perspectives, you can better understand the areas where employees want to be recognized and adjust your efforts accordingly. This approach also assists in developing recognition programs that align with your business’ values and traditions.

    While implementing and iterating your strategies, setting clear and attainable goals is crucial. You can effectively track progress by defining specific objectives, such as increasing employee morale, improving team collaboration, and establishing measurable targets. This ensures that your recognition programs are purposeful and have the desired impact.

    Disadvantages Of Non-Monetary Rewards

    Though there aren’t many disadvantages to non-monetary rewards, there are a few things to consider. If you have a sizable team, your goal should be to increase productivity, and giving out non-monetary rewards may not be enough to encourage employees. Therefore, instead of replacing monetary incentives, it’s advisable to use non-monetary recognition programs in conjunction with them. Achieving a balance between the two approaches will yield the best results.

    Another potential challenge is implementing recognition and reward programs that fit within your budget but also meet the desires of your team. It can also take a substantial amount of time to implement and generate company-wide buy-in. Thus, it’s important that you’re aware of the resources needed before you get started. Partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) or hiring an employee engagement personnel to assist your efforts can be a good place to start.

    Ensuring Success

    It’s essential to generate buy-in from both leadership and employees to ensure the success of your chosen strategies. To assist in this process, communicate the value of non-monetary recognition to your leadership team. Transparently explain the reasons behind implementing these strategies and highlight how they contribute to employee development, well-being, and job satisfaction. Clearly articulate the connection between recognition and the overall success of the organization.

    Additionally, routine and consistent communication is critical. Regularly inform employees about the specific non-monetary rewards available and provide clear guidelines for earning them. Encourage managers to discuss and promote recognition programs with their teams openly. Doing so will help create a culture that appreciates and celebrates employee accomplishments.

    Finally, you should monitor the effectiveness of non-monetary recognition strategies to ensure their success. Regularly gather employee feedback through focus groups or one-on-one conversations to assess their perception of the recognition programs. Keep track of the frequency and types of recognition utilized and evaluate their impact on employee motivation and engagement. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to the strategies. Recognition programs should continually improve as you gather feedback. Thus, flexibility and adaptability are key.

    Performance Management Assistance

    At GMS, we understand that your employees are your greatest asset. However, managing them and maintaining a positive work culture can be difficult. As a business owner, performance management is critical to making training, career development, compensation, transfers, promotions, and termination decisions. It allows you to set clear goals and expectations for each employee and provide feedback about their performance related to those goals.

    With our employee performance management service, we can help you strategize ways to reengage your employees, help you define your goals, and set employee expectations. We even take on the administrative burdens associated with managing employees. Ready to get started? Contact us today to connect with one of our specialists!

  • A lack of motivation can really cost your business. Entrepreneur reports that disengaged, disinterested employees have led to a loss of up to $550 billion per year for U.S. businesses. Fortunately, there are ways that you can help motivate your employees so that they’re ready to give it their all every day. Here are three steps that you can take to engage your employees.

    A motivated employee. 

    Build Relationships

    Just how important is it to build a relationship with your employees? When the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conducted a survey on job satisfaction and engagement, a whopping 95 percent of respondents noted that “their relationship with their immediate supervisor plays an important role in how they feel about their job.”

    Whether you work directly with your employees or have a management staff that supervises everyone, it’s important to build a welcoming culture that places an emphasis on communication. Employees want to feel like their voices are heard, and the occasional email or chat message isn’t going to be enough to motivate them. Some ways to improve workplace communication include:

    • Establishing regular face-to-face communication with employees
    • Set regular meetings where employees can share input, such as weekly townhall meetings or monthly retrospectives
    • Offer an anonymous feedback system
    • Invest in online communication tools, such as Slack or HipChat

    Instituting some of these practices can give employees an avenue to share their thoughts and feelings. However, communication can be about more than just the workplace. Showing an interest in employees’ lives outside of the office can show your employees that they’re more than just a dollar sign, which can inspire them to become more invested in your business and motivated to do great work.

    Let Them Grow

    Future opportunities can play a big role in an employee’s motivation. SHRM’s job satisfaction and engagement survey found that roughly half of respondents noted that “career advancement opportunities within their organization were very important to their job satisfaction.” Fortunately, there are many ways that you can help your employees develop as a part of your business.

    Hiring internally can be a powerful tool that can allow your workers to make the next logical step in their career. Internal candidates already know your company intimately, and you have the advantage of knowing what their skills are before you offer them the job. For your employees, it gives them a big forward step without having to leave for a new company. In return, you get to retain key talent and help your workers grow. Also, internal hires can be up to 20 percent cheaper to hire than external candidates, which adds some cost savings to your team development efforts.

    If you don’t have any open positions, you can still help your employees develop. Offering employee training or allowing workers to attend educational conferences and trade shows can give them the ability to learn new skills that they can use at your business. It also shows that you care about their career development, which can serve as a great motivational tool.

    Give Your Employees Benefits That They Want

    Money is a big motivator, but it isn’t always the biggest factor for employees. According to the Harvard Business Review, “80 percent of employees would choose additional benefits over a pay raise.” Catering your benefits package to the wants and desires of your employees can act as a good source of motivation.

    Of course, employees may value certain benefits more than others depending on their needs at home. Across generations, employees’ preferences have changed, which can impact which types of benefits you may consider adding to help motivate your workers. Glassdoor offers some insight into what benefits each generation tends to value:

    • Baby Boomers value salary level, health insurance, and a retirement plan
    • Gen Xers value salary level, a 401K plan with matching benefits, job security, advancement within the company, and opportunities for work-life balance
    • Millennials value benefits choices, paid time off, ability to work remotely, control over their schedules, and a great deal of flexibility

    Each business is different, so you may find that giving your employees some work-from-home privileges to be beneficial while another business owner may see more value in employee training. It can also be beneficial to listen to what your employees have to say on the matter, whether it’s in person or during a regular meeting that you set up to improve communication. 

    By listening to their wants and needs and amending your benefits package in a way that makes sense for both your business and your employees, you can show your workers that your company is one that values them. In turn, this can inspire them to keep up the hard work and become more invested in your business.

    Get Some Help to Motivate Your Employees

    While implementing employee management initiatives to motivate employees can be very valuable, it can also be a lot of work to take on by yourself. Partnering with a Professional Employer Organization allows you to turn to HR experts to set up employee training programs, get the most bang for your buck on benefit plans, and manage other critical HR functions that can keep your workforce motivated. 

    Contact GMS today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you with employee management.

  • The employee performance review has been a standard business practice for decades. However, not all organizations recognize that there’s a fine line between a valuable performance review and an unhelpful one. 

    When done well, performance reviews are an incredibly powerful tool for driving employee success. When done poorly, they simply waste time and leave employees frustrated. The downsides of bad performance reviews have led some companies to shift away from performance reviews in recent years. However, it’s better to solve these issues than avoid them altogether.

    There is immense value to developing an open, honest avenue for managers to discuss an employee’s performance and opportunities for growth. Let’s break down employee appraisal tips that your business can do to create positive appraisal experiences that drive your employees to succeed.

    A small business owner conducting an employee performance review with appropriate best practices. 

    The True Goals of Employee Performance Reviews

    Simply put, employee performance reviews are conversations where a manager and an employee openly discuss that employee’s performance, development, and growth. This conversation is a key way to identify ways for both personal and company improvement. The word “conversation” is critical here – these appraisals should be a two-way conversation. 

    The reason why it’s important to have a conversation is that the employee should be just as engaged as the manager. Employee performance reviews are not designed for immediate fixes. If there’s a problem that requires immediate resolution, you shouldn’t wait for an appraisal. 

    Instead, performance reviews are meant to create regular opportunities for managers and employees to align their efforts and determine how they can maximize performance. As such, performance reviews give you an opportunity to work with your employees and achieve the following goals.

    • Create and review expectations, standards, and rules.
    • Educate employees about any behaviors they need improvement or modification.
    • Identify any strengths and weaknesses that weren’t already known.
    • Chart a course for the employee’s future.
    • Learn more about the employee.
    • Send a message that you care about the employee, both personally and professionally.

    7 Performance Review Tips for Managers

    By focusing on the appropriate goals, your performance reviews can help motivate team members and improve performance levels. However, those ideal goals will only go so far without proper execution.

    It’s essential to make the employee performance review process as positive of an experience as possible. The following tips can help you learn how to conduct performance reviews and build a culture of continuous improvement for your employees.

    Prepare ahead of time

    The first step toward any successful employee appraisal is preparation. Both you and your employees should come prepared to performance reviews with notes and talking points. The following items and information can also help.

    • A copy of the employee’s personnel file.
    • Documentation from past reviews, including previously set goals, objectives, and notes of interest from prior conversations.
    • Feedback and notes from supervisors or coworkers.
    • Relevant performance data and customer feedback.
    • SWOT analysis.

    A shared agenda will also help set a positive, constructive tone for the meeting. Some employees will go into a review expecting an interrogation that will directly impact their future compensation. Giving them an agenda and questions to think about will help them be in a mindset for growth instead of being tightlipped and careful about the information they share. 

    You can also prepare by asking employees up for review to share any topics they want to discuss. This gesture not only allows the employee to change the agenda to be more valuable for them, but also shows that you’re ready to listen. That two-way connection will encourage employees to contribute more to the review and own their path for professional improvement.

    Speak carefully and ask the right questions

    Your choice of words make a big difference. The right words and tone can help motivate your employees. Meanwhile, less friendly phrases will only make them dread these occasions in the future. 

    In terms of your message, try to focus on specific language that makes employees think in positive terms. For example, emphasize that the goal of each review is to solve problems and identify ways to help both the employee and the company grow. This constructive approach can keep employees engaged and look forward to the future. 

    The questions you ask are a major part of this process as well. These queries should mirror the same positive approach. The following questions are great ways to emphasize the future and and create steps for improvement.

    • What goals do you have for the next quarter, year, or other period of time?
    • What accomplishments are you most proud of from your work?
    • What goals do you want to set for your own development?
    • Are there any hurdles that we need to solve together?
    • What can I do to improve as your manager?

    Listen as much as you speak

    Even if you know that performance reviews should be a two-way conversation, it can be easy to end up talking most of the review. A two-way conversation should never feel like an interrogation or like only one party is talking. Employees may be hesitant to share too much information out of fear of saying something wrong. 

    It’s important to make sure that everyone being reviewed not only feels comfortable enough to share genuine thoughts, but also know that you’re actively interested in what they’re saying. Make sure to ask them about topics where they can lead the conversation. When an employee has interesting feedback, ask a follow up question to delve into the topic even further. You should also repeat back what you heard from them to confirm that you listened to their points and can clarify if there’s any misunderstanding. These practices will help you gather more critical information and show employees that the reviews are an ongoing conversation and not a one-sided affair.

    Give specific examples for both good work and areas of improvement

    Vague or generic criticism doled out during performance appraisals is only going to frustrate and disenchant employees. The best way to provide genuine critical feedback is to have concrete examples for good achievements and areas of improvement.

    One major benefit of using specific examples is that they provide very clear examples of exemplary or subpar work. Exact examples provide teachable moments of what can be done to improve that provide more weight than general feedback. 

    Examples also have the benefit of showing that you and your management team are paying attention. Whether you’re identifying ways for the employee to improve or providing accolades for good work, it shows the employee that his or her work hasn’t gone unnoticed. That level of attention gives your feedback more weight and helps your workers feel like they aren’t invisible. These employee performance tips ensure that your input leads to a good outcome for both the employee and the individual when giving feedback.

    Track employee progress

    In order to maximize the benefit of performance meetings, it’s essential to track that your efforts make a difference. You should do your best to find measurable goals and evaluate your employees’ progress over time. When you review these goals, try to answer the following questions

    • Do you see positive progression for measurable goals?
    • Has employee performance improved, declined, or stayed steady?
    • Has employee morale increased, decreased, or stayed steady?
    • Is the employee more confident than they were in past reviews?

    Over time, you should see employees continue to grow in their roles. If you’re not seeing positive results, you may want to change the goals or try a different approach toward maintaining professional growth. 

    Have next steps for after the meeting

    The performance review is just one step in a long process. Once the appraisal concludes, you and your employee should review everything that was discussed and complete the following:

    • Review notes from what was discussed during the meeting
    • Determine and define next steps 

    A performance conversation shouldn’t end when the meeting is over. After the conversation concludes, managers and employees should review notes, define next steps, and follow up with shared comments and feedback. Without these items, performance conversations feel unresolved. If you want your review to actually improve performance, it’s vital to create an action plan and follow through on that plan.

    Make performance reviews a regular exercise

    The conversation between management and employees doesn’t need to be an infrequent occasion. Performance conversations should be a regular event to help encourage improvement. Why wait another 12 months to try and focus on growth when regular feedback can help improve your company even sooner?

    Once you finish a performance review, try and schedule the next conversation as soon as possible. The cadence of these meetings will differ depending on your organization, but quarterly or monthly appraisals are good places to start. These regular meetings will not only keep the conversation going, but also show your employees that you care about their development.

    It’s also important to note that conversations shouldn’t be limited to just performance reviews. Constructive discussions can happen outside of scheduled appraisals. An open-door policy can help employees feel more comfortable talking about potential issues or paths to improvement at other times. This level of openness can help you make continuous performance a part of your culture instead of an unhelpful annual event.

    Set Up Your Employees for Success

    Your employees are your greatest asset. However, ongoing employee management is a major challenge, especially when there’s only so much time in the day. That’s why GMS works with businesses to help employers with everything from performance management to payroll administration.

    As a PEO, we help small businesses take control of critical HR management functions so that they can spend their time on other key business tasks. Contact GMS today about how we can save you time, money, and plenty of headaches by helping you take control of critical HR functions.