Incentives and rewards is not all that understanding a large-scale workforce comes to.
Hearing and understanding your workforce may come easy to you if you’re a natural born leader. This may be even easier in a smaller business of say six employees where you can deeply understand and know your people.
You’re spoiled with the opportunity to personally get to know each of them individually and inherently understand who they are. But, not all leaders have this natural ability, and it tends to be even more difficult to achieve in a large-scale organisation.
When it comes to large-scale organisations, the road is not nearly as straight nor smooth. Identifying and understanding each and every employee as an individual feels near impossible when working with a large-scale workforce.
And we’ve seen this as the case for many medium-to-large businesses across the globe. Meeting employees’ satisfactions, needs and expectations – and doing so with the right rewards and incentives – is challenging for most.
It’s not uncommon for business owners to challenge the current financially-focused system and say, “We offer competitive salaries and great bonus opportunities. Why does my workforce still seem unmotivated?”
Unfortunately, the process of handing out rewards and incentives is not a streamlined one either. Not all business leaders know what every team member wants but, take that one step further, and not all gifts given render a sense of joy either.
Not every employee reward or incentive will be well-received. Human beings are complex and when you start mixing generations, cultures and backgrounds, you’re left with a melting pot of different wants, needs and expectations.
But There Is A Way, And We’ve Found Your Will
Gaining an understanding of the wants, needs and expectations of a large-scale workforce is possible though. And with this, the possibility of keeping them motivated with the right business response.
The answer does not lie in placing every staff member into a predefined box. While your workforce may comprise similarities, boxes are not the answer to meet individual needs and provide effective rewards and incentives in order to keep people motivated.
Thinking in this way renders unfavourable results because every person is different no matter how you try to cut it. Not all Millennials are job-hoppers, lack-lustre in experience and boast an impressive ego.
Neither is the older crowd still tied to paper and reluctant to give up the suit and tie. Not all women are submissive and not all men hold leadership positions. Every generation, and each individual that makes up that generation, is a combination of as many differences as there are similarities.
They’re Not All Delighted By The Same Perks
In order to bridge the gap and provide the right reward with the right expectation is about acknowledging that each employee is different. Changing from the mindset of one-size-fits-all incentives and rewards programs will see positive results. And you can do this, as a business and business leader, by actively listening to what your employees actually want.
Start by using your arsenal of communication tools and make actively listening to your employees a priority for your business. This sounds challenging for a business with a large-scale workforce but the reward is much greater than the effort required. Avoid relying simply on HR and aim to implement team sessions, online questionnaires and internal reporting in order to make active listening a company-wide activity and embedded in your company culture.
Consistently question yourself and reflect on whether or not you were actively listening:
- Did you hear and understand your employees correctly?
- Is your response appropriate in terms of what they said?
Employees want to be heard and being heard is a reward in itself. In itself, giving your employees an opportunity to speak and listening to what they have to say drives motivation. It’s about asking for opinions and then making those opinions count.
Listen. Pause. Reflect. Then Act With Purposeful Intent
Actively listening should not result in another internal presentation, more emails and a new memo. It’s important to not only actively listen to what your employees are saying but also pausing, reflecting and ensuring that your response is in-line with what has been said.
By proving that employees have been heard, motivation will peak almost instantaneously. Then, consider suitable incentives and rewards to boost their already existing motivation.
Schedule a demo with one of our seasoned Organisational Psychologists and let’s explore how we can actively listen to your employees and generate an incentives and rewards program that generates positive employee motivation and engagement.
Also read about the importance of employee engagement…