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The e-mail comes out at noon. "To celebrate your diligence in the week , there's cake and frozen dessert within the big kitchen at 3 today. Be there!"
The universal reward for diligence always seems to be food: cake and frozen dessert , a catered lunch for in-service training sessions, pizza for the overtime crew, bagels and cheese to decorate up a bleak Monday morning.
Food seems to be the perennial favorite for any quite work reward because it's universally accepted. a number of us (we clique dieters) may expire the sweet stuff but usually find something allowable. during a world where two thirds folks are overweight or obese, is there nothing else available as a present that cuts across all individual interests?
Recently, we had an entire week at my company dedicated to employee appreciation. the first rewards were, of course, food but other things were added: a corporation jockey cap , a hiking water container, a lunch bag, and a handwritten note of because of every employee from their supervisor. The cap was a bust for those folks with any modicum of fashion sense; the insulated flask and bag were food related, and therefore the handwritten notes were superfluous - good supervisors show their appreciation of diligence constantly while a handwritten note from a harsh supervisor, regardless of the "thanks" stated, means diddly squat to a resentful employee.
The has got to be something else, doesn't there? We citizenry have few things totally in common and eating is that the primary universal. Other common bodily activities like urination and defecation aren't easily translatable into some quite reward system. We are all involved in physical activity, to a point , but that's often more a chore than a delight.
When it involves our other senses, we all differ such a lot that one person's pleasure is another person's pain: music, perfume, pictures, or massages are differential tastes instead of general givens.
Money is nearly always acceptable but the tiny amounts that might be individually generated to exchange a free dessert or snack would be so minimal that their reward value would be insignificant.
So what can those folks on a permanent diet, and alarmed about our coworkers' increased girth, suggest?
How about plants? Small individual pots or a bigger department shrub would save our waistlines while adding to the health and esthetics of our surroundings . I calculate, just within my call centre , that if a plant had been given to every department, rather than an edible goodie, for celebrations over the past 5 years, that i might now be working during a lush rain forest of exotic plants where the stale re-processed air conditioned air would be purer, more humid, and thousand times fresher. morale building and health benefits in one fell swoop!
How about the gift of time? In our overly busy pressured lives, who wouldn't be immensely grateful for a free hour here or there. Rotate it through each department, letting one or two people leave early a Friday afternoon. that might means something and would carry no cost so upper management should be ecstatic.
Instead of a handwritten note, how about getting Supervisors to perform their subordinates work duties for an hour approximately , once during a while? are you able to imagine the morale boost for an employee to urge off the phonephone , or the machine, or the pc , and shoot the breeze with friends for an hour while their duties are performed by their supervisors? And if mistakes are made - such a lot the higher . It creates a way of equality and inter-relationship between workers and supervisors that's generally lacking during a corporate environment.
How about free "Get out of jail" cards for each line worker? everyone gets one free card and extra cards are often given by supervisors for outstanding work, ensuring that the higher workers have more cards. The cards can then be used as excuses for little transgressions - coming during a little late, leaving early, making minor mistakes. With the utilization of the cardboard , a worker avoids verbal coaching, warnings, or being placed on report. And let employees use their cards for coworkers who may have them - consider the teambuilding that might accomplish!
Flexibility of hours, assignments, and days, is another area where workers will universally respond: to not money, or food, but to accommodation of individual needs. Give each employee a wish card then allow them to use it to urge something they have .
What does all of this accomplish? It allows for employee rewards without fats and carbohydrates. Now isn't that worthwhile?
P. S. I'm recommending this to my company. I'll allow you to know if they buy it!