Adapting to a rapidly changing economy is a pretty tall order. And under the circumstances, keeping morale high among your newly remote workforce is doubly challenging.
So, when something as basic and familiar as recognising top performers trips you up, it’s time to get inventive. And to get those creative juices flowing, we’ve rustled up a few interesting reward ideas to inspire new and effective ways to make your remote teams feel appreciated, recognised and rewarded for their work.
Contribute to a worthy cause of their choosing
There is a lot of need out there, and it’s likely that every person on your company’s payroll has a worthy cause they want to support. Some may give to animal shelters or environmental groups, while others focus their charitable efforts on schooling or feeding schemes in underserved communities. Providing your team a chance to show some kindness and make a contribution to a worthy cause of their choice has a positive knock-on effect that generates some much-needed feel-good vibes when times are tough.
Treat them to restaurant food delivery
The restaurant and hospitality industries have been very hard hit by trade restrictions imposed to keep the COVID-19 virus in check. So, rewarding your team with a voucher for food delivery from their favourite eatery is another way to spread the love and pay it forward – your employee gets a delicious meal to enjoy, and their preferred restaurants get a helpful boost at the same time. Alternatively, avid home cooks may enjoy a voucher to attend a digital cooking class with a local chef or restauranteur.
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Promote wellbeing with subscriptions to online exercise platforms
Lots of gyms and personal trainers have taken their businesses online by offering one-on-one or group coaching sessions based on bodyweight training and other exercises that can be done from home without lots of equipment. A subscription to some sessions with a personal trainer, or access to a paid platform for yoga or Pilates instruction, is a great reward that keeps your team members healthy and active at a very stressful time. Exercise has been proven to have a positive effect on stress levels, so promoting it as part of a company wellness initiative is always a good idea.
Help out overwhelmed parents
Working from home can be an especially big challenge for parents who have to juggle their work responsibilities with taking care of children who are unable to attend school during times of enforced distancing. Consider lightening their load by rewarding these hard-working individuals with support in the form of access to online tutoring for school-age children, or interesting educational platforms for younger kids. Rewards like these can make all the difference in an employee’s ability to concentrate during Zoom calls and remote meetings.
Inspire with one-on-one coaching sessions
Ongoing training is imperative if you want your workforce to grow and develop in their roles. As such, rewards in the form of online coaching sessions with industry heavyweights are a good idea at this time. Coaching can be related to professional or personal development.
For example, you could arrange a session with your company’s financial advisor to discuss their personal finances and budgeting, or a consultation with a wellness expert to discuss diet or exercise plans. Another alternative is to give your employees the option to choose online courses from a platform like MasterClass, where the options range from writing and culinary arts, to film and TV, music and entertainment, photography, fashion, business and more.
Keep them connected
When employees work from home, they (and their families) tend to use a lot more data than usual, especially if they’re not set up with WIFI. Digital vouchers for data bundles make great rewards in times like these. The family can watch movies, play games, enjoy long video calls, with plenty of data left for work requirements.
Line up digital beauty treatments
Yes, ladies and gents, digital beauty treatments are now a thing. When social distancing regulations keep your employees from visiting a beauty therapist or hairdresser of their choice, a voucher for a digital treatment can be a fantastic treat. Certain salons have adapted their services to offer at-home treatments complete with step-by-step directions from a dedicated beauty therapist. This includes treatments like hair colouring and facial peels. The salon couriers the products to your home, and a therapist or hairdresser then connects with you on a digital platform like Skype or Zoom at a predetermined time to check that you apply everything correctly, remove it in time and get a professional result.
Have green things delivered
There is a lot to be said for having a pretty posy or lush houseplant delivered as a reward for good performance. It doesn’t have to be a very expensive fancy arrangement to have a big impact and brighten someone’s day – especially when it comes as an unexpected surprise. If you know your employee loves to garden, you can even opt for some seasonally appropriate seeds or seedlings that they can use in their veggie patch or balcony planter. Gardening has been proven to be beneficial for human health and wellbeing, so a reward like this is a good way to encourage emotional self-care as well.
These are just a few reward ideas you can consider when recognising top performers in trying times. Keep an eye out for more insider info on tailoring reward and recognition strategies for a brave new economy in the coming weeks and months.
In the meantime, feel free to get in touch with the GET Rewards team if you want to discuss your options for rewarding your customers, channel partners and employees in ways that lead to deeper engagement and lasting loyalty.
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