Time for Change?

If there is one positive outcome from the pandemic, it's the opportunity for all employers to review how they work and look at the benefits that they provide to their employees to ensure that they are delivering meaningful employee engagement. As a great engaged workforce is a key success factor for any business.

‍It's good to connect

‍The pandemic has demonstrated the need for good and regular employee communication. Getting the balance right between email, text, Teams, Zoom etc. and an actual conversation on the phone has been one of the most difficult balancing acts for us all to get right during lockdown and remote working.

As individuals we all crave for interaction and whilst in the past this was often through face-to-face conversations, the last 12 months have seen us starved of this intimacy. Lockdown has reduced the amount of time we spend in active conversation. Whilst technology has enabled us to connect with each other more easily, those touch points have become a much thinner interaction. Ensuring therefore that all employees remain engaged and motivated has been a more difficult task to manage.

That is why at the start of 2021 with the continuation of lockdown, all business leaders should be reviewing how they are engaging with their employees and delivering on supporting their wellbeing. This review should cover both mental as well as physical health, and the rewards that are being provided.

‍Importance of Recognition

‍Employee recognition is all about the timely, informal, or formal acknowledgement of a person or team's behavior, effort or business result that supports the organisation's goals and values. During the pandemic delivery against the goals and values have clearly been beyond normal expectations. The challenge for employers is how to best reward and recognise employee performance.

Appreciation and need for reward are a fundamental human need. Employees respond to appreciation expressed through recognition of their good work because it confirms their work is valued by others. When employees and their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises, and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work.

‍A comprehensive and affordable employee reward and recognition platform

‍The employers that we have been talking to over the last three months have all stressed that they want access to a benefits platform that they can customise, and which can deliver a culture of continuous recognition and appreciation across their entire business. The platform however must be affordable and not create IT infrastructure headaches. It must empower everyone in the business, from frontline employees to managers and everyone in between to celebrate contributions that drive the business forward through multi-directional reward and recognition.

The tools and features must appeal to all employees There is no one size fits all rewards program, it needs to be customised based on the demographics of the organisation. The millennial workforce increasingly values experiences over monetary benefits. Today's environment post COVID-19 era will reiterate an organisation's focus on employee well-being and health benefits. Career Planning and Individual development as a part of the options can go a long way to have engaged and motivated employees.

‍Request a demonstration of our platform.

‍It has to be remembered that a strong benefits programme nurtures behaviours that drive greater and more meaningful employee engagement.

‍Wojciech Dochan

‍Managing Director Bravo Benefits

Provider of the SmartHive Platform

‍Smart Hive is an integrated, cost effective employee benefits platform that provides your employees with access to all their health and wellbeing benefits in one place. Talk to a member of our team today or book your very own demonstration.