How should employees be rewarded when they go the extra mile?
Q: My local barista was a tower of energy to us oldies for the duration of the pandemic. He was often cheerful, a very good listener and went higher than and beyond just serving us.
I wrote a letter to management inquiring if he could be presented some variety of recognition. I was therefore upset to explore he had been presented just a bottle of wine.
I assume the company could have done a lot more. How do you sense about fulfilling workers who go “the additional mile”?
A: 20-five decades ago, when I was Timpson’s main government, I sent a handwritten letter each Monday to at the very least ten branch managers who had traded specifically properly. A lot of proudly displayed the letter in their store. The personal touch was so well known that I released our Chairman’s Award with a tax-paid out cheque (usually for £50), which was also sent with a letter in my handwriting.
James, my son and Timpson’s present-day boss, nonetheless writes to personal stores. A Chairman’s Award is now a lot more probable to be at the very least £100, but, like a whole lot of other firms, we also recognise fantastic purchaser support and random functions of kindness, in particular when a purchaser has contacted us to praise a individual colleague.
Most major organisations evaluate purchaser support levels on a dashboard – a well known part of today’s governance agenda. To make sure very good support is currently being inspired, they set up a standard reward procedure. Some rewards have inevitably long gone digital and are generally taken care of by outdoors “service providers”.
Some have adopted a procedure centered on “well done emails” that encourages colleagues to decide out people who deserve praise and send them an on the web take note. The information is then copied during the organisation and… properly, that’s it the reward is merely their public recognition.
A lot of major firms appear severely anxious that offering generous rewards can appear at a prohibitive cost. With this in head, they make sure rewards are carefully managed by the human means department at head office environment. Prior to any one out in the area can hand out a box of candies or a bottle of Prosecco, a ask for has to be sent to HR by picking an correct reward from the authorized list.
Prior to handing in excess of the flowers, candies or wine, a form has to be concluded and sent to HR, who, in due system, will concern an get form in favour of an authorized supplier. At very last, the reward can be bought and offered. It’s an case in point of command and management going bonkers.
Some decades ago, we identified a way to give our frontline managers the freedom to hand out rapid rewards to recognise fantastic support: we issued our very own company scratch playing cards (an notion that was at first Asda’s).
As opposed to the lottery, to be a winner on a Timpson scratch card, colleagues have to expose a few Timpson goods, such as a few watches, a few keys or a few shoes. Everyone’s a winner, but their reward is dependent on which goods are exposed. The possibilities are £10, £25, £50, a bottle of your option, a meal out on James or “the up coming sale is yours”.