Ask a Business Expert

A: You are right. You need to build in mechanisms for both morale building and employee rewards that don't take a lot of time. Both, however, work best when designed for the specific people and situations involved, so thought is required in the beginning. Ideally, your employees should be involved in the answering of this question.

For group morale building, do they want more ways to personalize their workspace? A better snack area? Do they want to see the company's performance markers prominently posted? An effective tool used by some businesses is to create a number of small groups, made up of employees and management people who don't normally work together, and put them in charge of a DID YOU KNOW? bulletin board. This can be used to showcase employees' outside interests and accomplishments. The bulletin board can include photos from trips, pictures of family, newspaper clippings, and a section on goals outside the workplace. The board should be in a prominent, easily accessible place.

In terms of employee rewards, it is very important to gear these to the personality of the particular employee involved. The best way to do this is, during your next review, specifically address this question with each employee. What reward style works for them? Do they love/hate being acknowledged in front of others? Is a chance to leave early on Fridays during basketball season so they can see their daughter play far more important to them than a monetary reward? Does praise that is written down, i.e., in a letter for their personnel file, mean more/less to them than personal spoken praise? Never assume that the reward that would please you is necessarily the one that will please the employee — ask!

You are on the right track to a successful business when you concern yourself with employee morale and rewards. Taking the time to involve your employees in the personalizing of both will pay off for everyone. Congratulations!