Non-monetary rewards for your employees
Non-monetary rewards are employee incentives such as job flexibility, appreciation, awards and recognition that do not involve money. Non-monetary rewards are ideally motivational drivers with personal benefits that will emotionally connect to the employee through their work.
Employee incentives do not have to always be monetary, like pay rises and bonuses, with many untapped alternatives available. Monetary rewards often become expected by employees and as a result do not always deliver the right employee behaviours for a company in the long term. Companies that focus on creating a positive culture and work environment, with employee rewards that underpin these values, will find they motivate and inspire staff to deliver increased productivity and contribute towards the overall business success.
How to reward employees without money
At FMI we help HR managers, internal communication teams and marketing departments to recognise and reward their employees through the implementation of reward and recognition programmes and live events. If they are unsure how to reward employees, we can provide guidance and best advice for their specific challenges within their company. We act as an extension to their team to support the development and rollout of programmes that drive employee engagement, predominantly using non-monetary rewards.
The benefits of diversifying your employee rewards
Companies that achieve a positive culture and high employee engagement levels benefit greatly overall in their business success. However, the benefits to both employer and employee go far deeper than improved business performance.
The benefits of diversifying your employee rewards to include non-monetary incentives can positively impact employees in several ways:
Being part of something
Feeling part of a company culture that is focused on personal growth, job satisfaction and recognition will inspire employees to be further engaged and committed to their work.
Doesn’t put a value on someone
Removes any perceived value of an employee along with any peer-to-peer comparison with it being an unquantified reward.
Creates a sense of purpose
Appeals to an employee’s sense of purpose, personal growth and emotional needs. An intangible reward can be tailored to an individual’s needs and interests feel more personalised and considered by the company.
Creates lasting impact
Remains memorable for the employee, likely to be discussed and shared with family and friends and therefore creates a positive association to the company brand for time to come.
- ✓ Increased employee motivation and satisfaction
- ✓ Improved internal communications and team performance
- ✓ Reduced employee turnover rates
- ✓ Increased employee productivity and output
Rewarding your employees without money
Executing non-monetary rewards effectively requires consideration, planning and clear objectives. If you work in HR, employee engagement or marketing and are considering how to rewards employees without money, then start with these initial non-monetary rewards from which to build upon.
- Recognition scheme
- Awards ceremony
- Engagement activities
- Personalised rewards
Recognition scheme
An employee recognition programme provides a formalised scheme through which managers and peers can show appreciation to fellow employees. Send a simple ‘thank you’, congratulate with a ‘well done’ and comment for a ‘great job’ to let staff know their efforts are recognised and have been appreciated. Schemes can start with a dedicated email inbox to receive nominations, or launch with a recognition platform that contains all the functionality required to send and receive recognition, gather feedback and monitor usage. Consider what roles your employees are in, if they are office, home or field based and plan a recognition scheme that is easily accessible across both mobile devices and laptops.
Awards ceremony
There is no better way to celebrate and recognise employee performance than with a live awards ceremony. Typically held annually, such recognition events can provide the opportunity for employees to dress up, get together with their peers and be recognised by senior management teams. Consider where your staff are based, if it should be a live event or if it needs to be a hybrid execution to allow for overseas employees and disparate workforces to participate. Recognise those who go above and beyond their role with physical award trophies and certificates of their achievements.
Engagement activities
Bringing employees together outside of the work environment can be a great way to improve and strengthen the bond amongst employees. Team building activities, social gatherings and spending time together to forge positive connections which will improve collaboration and teamwork within the business. There are local activity centres and specialist team building companies, or your local go kart track or bowling alley can provide cost-effective ways to engage your employees either during an afternoon or evening. Make people feel like they are part of a team and foster their sense of belonging.
Personalised rewards
Providing a reward that is unique to an employee will make them feel appreciated and valued. There are hundreds of rewards available from UK and Worldwide digital reward codes to VIP tickets and experiences, you can even gift them a concierge service for their ultimate reward of choice. Consider where and when you offer the reward and ensure it is suitable to their geographical location, personal life and commitments outside of work. Offer personalised rewards that matter most to them and see them thrive within the company.
Employee rewards with FMI
At FMI we tailor our offering to our client brands, and their objectives often determine the rewards we deliver through our employee incentive schemes. These can include:
- Recognition schemes and digital rewards
- Awards dinners, private dining, and hotel bookings
- Engagement activities; from VIP experiences (concert tickets etc.) to hospitality days (horse racing, golf etc.)
- Personalised rewards:
- UK high street retailer e-codes, experiences, and vouchers
- Worldwide e-codes and merchandise
- Holidays and travel experiences
- Once-in-a-lifetime incentive travel trip
- Concierge service
We are a highly experienced employee rewards agency and we provide corporate rewards and incentives to companies both in the UK and overseas that are simplified and effective. This approach means we’ve become a trusted employee rewards agency to some of the world’s biggest brands, and we’ve successfully delivered a range of corporate rewards programmes, corporate incentive schemes, employee incentives and corporate events for brands including Three, Huawei, BP, Sky and LG.
The benefits of working with us are two-fold, we offer a vast range of non-monetary rewards that a localised, customised and easy to redeem. We are also easy to do business with. We are agile and flexible and can support large companies and their teams in the delivery of employee rewards within tight timeframes. We are highly professional with a very supportive manner.
If you’re seeking non-monetary rewards for your employees then contact us to discuss the options available.
