Reward [week 24]

There are many different ways to reward staff from frequent recognition of accomplishments to regular communication. Some of the ways in which a company I worked for rewarded their staff where by offering:
Flexible hours- for those who have responsibilities such as children, hobbies, study etc
Making work fun- by having a good team atmosphere
Reward for effort as well as success- if those who try are not rewarded they will stop trying
Bonuses- usually for individual accomplishment only given to management for meeting sales targets.
Chocolates or wine- for those who suggestive sell the most in one week, this is easy to monitor and encourages good competition between co-workers to do better than each other.
Free parking- this will mean staff is not calling in sick because they are worried parking will cost them half the day’s pay.
Membership to gym- This was offered to management as the company felt it would help managers to become more active and aware at work.

Each individual employee prefers different rewards to suit them and their needs, this is what an organisation needs to cater to without spending too much money. From my experience money is defiantly not the biggest motivator, so a company does not have to spend a lot to motivate their staff through reward. Some prefer to have more time off to spend with their family others prefer some recognition to show management is aware and grateful for their efforts. I think the reward system at my job was unfair as the manager decided who worked the hardest and received recognition. For those who didn't get on with her never received any recognition and therefore never tried. The reward system was based on who has the best relationship with the manager rather than who worked the hardest and contributed in achieving targets.

Reward did differ depending on the job role everyone had for example only managers where offered gym membership and bonuses. In my opinion this is completely unfair as it was always a team effort the manager was responsible to leading the team in the right direction however that is why they got paid more than other staff member did. The bonus should be shared between the team otherwise the employees will stop trying as the manager benefits more than staff does.

Employee reward and recognition programs are one method of motivating employees to change work habits and key behaviours to benefit the business. Therefore the reward system has to be fair otherwise it could cause conflict between co- workers and could also lead to some employees not working as hard as they could as they are not getting the recognition they deserve. Therefore employee’s efforts have to be monitored carefully especially if it was a team effort; those who work harder should get the most reward.

A company will have huge benefits from rewarding their staff regularly to keep them motivated, they will:
Improve performance/ sales
Create a fun atmosphere for the team of staff
Get employees engaged
Have more effective management.
All this will lead to a more successful organisation as a whole.

Fairness in the reward process could be insured if:
All employees are eligible for the recognition. The recognition supplies the employer and employee with specific information about what behaviours or actions that are being rewarded and recognised so everyone is clear about it.
Anyone who then performs at the level or standard stated in the criteria should receive the reward.
The recognition should occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible, so the recognition reinforces behaviour the employer wants to encourage.

Should Chief Executives receiving large Bonuses even if the company under performs?
For:Yes to keep them motivated, to keep trying to achieve their targets
Yes for their efforts as they may have tried and not succeeded due to various reason they could not help and should not get punished for e.g. fierce competition.
Yes because they play a very important role within the organisation and are valuable so they should be kept happy for the sake of the organisation. If they are de-motivated it will cost the company a lot to motivate them or even replace them so it may be more beneficial to the company to just give them the bonus.

Against:
No because the bonus is for achieving and performing so if they are given a bonus when the company underperforms the chief executive may not try as hard next time to reach targets.
The importance of trying will lose its worth for all employees because if the chief executive is rewarded when the company under performs, employees will not see the point of trying any harder than they did this time round.
If the chief executive receives the bonus when performance wasn’t good they will not pressurise the employees to work any harder which will further effect the performance.
This money could be used for more important issues such as training staff to perform better.

Reward for teachers
Financial
Fringe Benefits
Perks or items a teacher receives in addition to their normal wage or salary e.g. company car, private health insurance, free meals. Advantages-Encourages loyalty to a school so teachers may stay for longer and Helps meet workers human and social needs. Disadvantages are that it will increase costs sharply.
Performance-related pay - to those teachers who meet certain targets/ grades. The targets can be evaluated and reviewed in regular appraisals with head teacher.

Non- financial rewards
Job enrichment- will give teachers more interesting, challenging and complex tasks. They should be given the opportunity to complete a whole unit of work rather than individual separate tasks. This is motivating because it gives them the chance to test themselves and use their full range of ability
Job enlargement- giving teachers more tasks to do of a similar nature or complexity. This will reduce the repetition involved the job role. Job rotation could be a part of this for teachers and involves having a wider variety of tasks to do e.g. teach a different subject/ students.
Bigger better office so teachers can feel more comfortable and relaxed in the environment

If I was a teacher I would be motivated by the financial rewards as the non financial ones are not that great. I would not want to teach a different subject as I may not know it as well however I would prefer to have a comfortable office to use as I may be spending long hours marking work.

References
Spitzer, D. (1996) Power rewards: Rewards that really motivate employee incentives. [s.n.], [s.l.]