By Sainsbury’s Business Direct
 

Why Reward at Christmas?

It may seem that we are only just celebrating Halloween and Bonfire Night but the reality is that Christmas is only a few weeks away and it is imperative to start thinking about how you will motivate your colleagues in the run up to Christmas.

There is a clear correlation between incentives and performance and Christmas is a great time to capitalise on this. This is the time of year that annual targets will be achieved and customer contracts renewed so what better time to drive sales and reward goodwill?

On the flip side, some companies will have experienced yet another tough year, with job cuts, pay freezes and spending cutbacks. With this in mind it is even more important that managers show their teams that they are valued and continue to keep them motivated and engaged for the year ahead.

Five Tips for Motivating and Rewarding at Christmas                                       

Employers are becoming more creative with Christmas rewards in light of tough economic conditions over recent years. However, businesses that have historically rewarded colleagues at Christmas will be pleased to know that there are plenty of affordable options that they can employ to ensure that the workforce remain incentivised.

Here are five things to consider when motivating colleagues in the run up to Christmas:   

1.  Choose the right reward and incentive
We’ve established that it’s important to motivate people in the run up to Christmas, but what reward is best? There is no point in giving a bottle of wine to say thank you, when some employees don’t drink! The right reward takes some thought. Cash incentives can be confused with bonuses and salary and often get swallowed up in everyday expenditure.

This is the reason that Gift Cards and Vouchers are so popular with employers. Not only do they offer CHOICE and appeal to all age groups but employers can also use their negotiating power to gain discounts where buying in bulk, making it a cost-effective reward. It’s win, win!

2.  Set achievable targets
Targets set for teams in the run up to Christmas should be specific, measurable, challenging but achievable and timed.

3.  Communicate, communicate, communicate
There is little point in going to the effort of creating a Christmas reward scheme and then failing to tell anyone about it. These days there are a number of communication methods that can be employed that are not expensive to run including emails, newsletters, company intranet and websites.

4.  Do publicly reward
Formally presenting a Gift Card or Voucher during meetings and employee events is really important for morale and may be just as important as the reward itself.

5.  Timing is everything

Ensure that you give out the reward quickly once the target has been met, so that colleagues will link the treat with meeting the objective. This will ensure maximum productivity.

Motivating’s not just for Christmas

It is really important to continue to incentivise your teams into the New Year. If you want to ensure happy, motivated and engaged colleagues for the year ahead, and banish any January blues it’s a good idea to spread the motivation programme across the festive period into the New Year.

Increasingly companies are starting to take a more strategic approach to rewards by setting up an ongoing motivation and reward scheme. These schemes can be linked to company-wide targets and are able to combine ‘on the spot’ prizes alongside rewards that are given once more longer-term objectives and goals have been met.

Make it your resolution to continue to incentivise, motivate and reward your colleagues in 2015.

For more information on rewarding employees with Gift Cards and Vouchers, or setting up a motivation and reward scheme, contact:

Sainsbury’s Business Direct

Contact us: 0870 0101351

Email us: info@sainsburysbusinessdirect.co.uk

Visit us: www.sainsburysbusinessdirect.co.uk