Reward & Recognition at Christmas 2014

Reward & Recognition at Christmas 2014 How to give an impactful end of year ‘thank you’ to employees

Will your Christmas reward and recognition really have the impact you want?

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As a time for thanks and for giving, Christmas has traditionally provided an important opportunity for employers to think about recognising the hard work their employees have done through the year.

But for the second year running, our research among employees has found the majority of employers are failing to take the opportunity to cement their relationship with employees by giving them an end of year thanks.

What’s more, even where reward is given, employees tell us employers are giving a reward which they discard or forget about entirely.

End of year reward, when done properly, resonates strongly with employees as a way of saying thank you. It may not be an expectation, but it is something which is appreciated and is memorable for employees. It is also something which doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

In this report you will find the headlines from our research into how employees see end of year reward as well as guidance to the five main areas you need to consider in order to get Christmas reward and recognition right and maximise the return on any investment you make.

www.edenred.co.uk/christmas-rewards | 0844 264 0059 2

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Research 2014: What is going wrong with Christmas Reward?

57%

57% of employees don’t expect a reward - that means saying thanks can have a

real impact

14% 17% 37%

14% lost or had forgotten about what

was given

17% gave or threw

it away

Only 37% get thanks from their manager

29%

Only 29% of employees got a

Christmas reward in 2013

10%

10% can’t remember whether they got a Christmas

reward

29%

29% of employees say they have never

had a Christmas reward


Our poll of 1,000 UK employees this year has revealed there are some key areas for improvement for Christmas reward and recognition strategy.

So how can employers turn things around and make a bigger impact with their Christmas reward spend?In this report, we discuss how to plan your strategy and deliver reward and recognition that has the strength to make the maximum impact without blowing your budget. For a reward that has a memorable, motivational and engaging effect that lasts into the New Year and beyond, we’ve covered five key areas to help your planning: 1. Complete your planning early

Why it pays to be ahead of the game

2. Christmas reward...not just for Christmas? Timing is key, here are some ideas on how take a creative approach to when you deliver reward

3. Cash versus non-cash How to avoid your reward being lost and forgotten in personal finances

4. The importance of personalisation One size doesn’t fit all, choose a reward that makes everyone happy

5. Saying thank you As important as the reward itself, this often gets forgotten, despite it costing nothing

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Five areas on how to make an impact with Christmas reward and recognition

1. COMPLETE YOUR PLANNING EARLYIn most organisations budgets and attitudes towards Christmas reward, recognition and incentives can change year-on-year. From a sales perspective, progress towards the yearly targets which have a bearing on what you give may be unclear until close to December.

Yet for any organisation considering end of year reward, thinking about your budget and starting your planning early on is the first vital step to take.

This is important if you’re doing it for the first time because (as you will see below) there is a lot to think about if you are going to get it right. If you are in an organisation which is used to giving reward already it is equally important so you can refresh your approach in order to improve its impact as a driver of motivation and engagement.

In either case, a fresh approach to reward doesn’t need to be complicated but does need time to plan. That means starting out early to understand what your employees will value - ideally by asking them and looking at best practice in your sector and among your competitors. You should also ask yourself who are you rewarding and why, whether you are missing anyone out. You can also ask yourself, what could be improved from last year.

At the very least, your planning should clarify business and people objectives for end of year reward, outline the processes which will support its delivery and specify how the impact on engagement and employee motivation will be measured.

One last element of planning is to ensure end of year reward is managed and treated as a principal driver of engagement and loyalty and not seen as a box-ticking admin task.

AT A GLANCE:Getting planning right• Start your planning early - ideally before the Autumn

• Establish how your reward, recognition and incentives measure up to employee expectations and best practice in your sector

• Create a plan which incorporates objectives, processes and outcomes which can be managed and measured


2. CHRISTMAS REWARD...NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS?One of the major assumptions which every organisation should challenge is whether you should continue to load your entire budget into Christmas reward, recognition and incentives.

Of course, meeting employee expectations that they should get some form of reward at this time of year is a powerful argument in favour of doing this. But when you take a step back, for many organisations and employees, the run up to Christmas is a hectic time; a blur of hitting end of year deadlines made harder by the pressure of personal planning for the festive season and a sense that there isn’t enough time to get everything done. Add in the tide of gifts which come many people’s way at this time of year it is easy for your investment in end of year reward to be lost in this mix - or its impact substantially reduced.

So if the goal of end of year reward and recognition is to reward loyalty and hard work while making a positive impact on employee performance we think it makes sense for organisations to think about how that investment can work harder.

One approach to doing this is to stretch the investment by splitting reward over December and January. Reward given when employees are struggling with the return to work and face a long wait until the January pay packet is likely to have a greater impact and be more appreciated than reward loaded into December - particularly if employees aren’t expecting it.

More radical options would be to split the investment between a Christmas and summer reward or introduce a New Year reward scheme.

Whichever route you chose, if your goal is to make a difference to employee engagement and performance, rethinking the timing of when you give reward and recognition can dramatically improve the impact of your investment.

AT A GLANCE:Spreading your investment• Ask yourself when reward and recognition would have the greatest impact for your

employees

• Think about spreading Christmas reward over December and January

• Consider how your budget could be spread to other parts of the year to support your business objectives


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3. CASH VERSUS NON-CASHFor many organisations, cash reward in the Christmas wage slip along with a letter from the boss covers off their Christmas reward and recognition - this was what our survey found. Other organisations may go for a combination of a Christmas mini-bonus in cash along with another token of thanks to incentivise employees.

If your organisation falls into one of these categories, it is important to consider whether cash reward is really doing the job in cementing recognition for your employee’s contribution to the business.

On the plus side, cash is easy to administer and gives the ultimate in choice: it really is down to the employee when and where they spend it. The downside of cash is that it easily gets lost in the bank account, chewed up by bills and may never get redeemed for a specific reward, thereby losing its motivational impact.

So if you are looking to maximise the motivational impact of your spend on recognition then the argument for non-cash reward is compelling.

By giving vouchers or pre-loaded gift cards you effectively ring-fence the reward. You also give your employees the choice which they value while the employer benefits from the double motivational impact which comes first when the reward is given and then later, when it is redeemed.

AT A GLANCE:Cash v non-cash• Non-cash reward ensures end of year reward doesn’t

get lost in the mix of personal finance

• Vouchers and pre-loaded cards offer the same flexibility and choice as cash but ring-fence the reward

• Non-cash reward can do a better job of reinforcing the impact of any recognition and be a greater incentive for performance


4. THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONALISATIONToday’s world is all about personalisation and choice. From what we watch on the TV to where we shop and the time we choose to do so, it’s an expectation we all have.

When it comes to reward, recognition and incentives, personalisation matters not just because it meets this expectation but because it allows employers to give something of value which recognises different people have different needs and priorities in life.

Personalisation is also important in providing a valued alternative to the ‘bottle of wine and chocolates’ approach to Christmas reward - something which can leave reward feeling predictable and stale, so undermining its benefits.

What this means is that when you plan reward and recognition, giving choice - in terms of what the reward is used for, when it is used and how it is used - is as important as the gift itself.

That doesn’t mean you have to give cash. Personalisation can be met by empowering employees with ‘choice’: the ability to choose their own reward. This can be achieved through multi-store vouchers or cards where employees can choose the retailer they shop at. This is still the most popular option at Christmas, or increasingly through digital platforms with employees redeeming an e-voucher. As one in two homes now own a tablet and nearly three quarters own a smartphone this is particularly important.

In our experience where reward and recognition is relevant it has more impact, so personalisation is critical – something which can then be built on when it comes to the final element: communication.

AT A GLANCE:Personalisation• Choice and personalisation are increasingly an expectation for many employees

• Vouchers, pre-loaded store cards and e-vouchers give employees the choice of when and where they redeem gifts

• Relevant reward has more impact for your organisation


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5. SAYING THANK YOUWhile the nature of your reward and recognition is important, the importance of getting the ‘thank you’ right is also critical.

As our survey showed, many organisations fail to capitalise fully on the motivational element of reward because they don’t get the communication right - or fail to say ‘thank you’ to employees altogether.

At the heart of good reward communication is face-to-face thanks from their line manager. This allows messages to be delivered clearly and directly to the employee. Managers should be clear about the contribution the employee has made and explicit in why the reward is being given and, of course, say ‘thank you’. It should be done through a one-to-one and a good communications plan will ensure the timing of these meetings is consistent across the business.

A second layer of communication should use team meetings to say thanks to whole teams and reinforce any company messages.

The final element of the reward and recognition process should be a more formal thank you; either from the CEO or relevant individual in the leadership team.

A good communications plan will ensure key company messages are delivered consistently while ensuring employees feel their contribution to the business is truly valued at an organisational and personal level through their manager.

It will also look at how messages of appreciation can be reinforced early in the New Year to create a more supportive and motivating environment in the post-Christmas return to work.

AT A GLANCE:Getting communication right• Organisations need to plan communications so they are consistent

in messages and timing

• One-to-one thanks from managers is a critical element of the process which should never be missed out

• Organisations should seek opportunities to reinforce these messages from a company perspective


ConclusionFor many organisations the changes they make each year to Christmas reward, recognition and incentives start and end in deciding what the budget allocation will be - if any.

Regardless of what your organisation has done in the past, Christmas reward represents a great opportunity to make a real impact on the relationship your employees have with their managers and the business.

With better planning and creative thinking about how reward and recognition is delivered, organisations can improve motivation and employee engagement while laying the foundations for performance in the next year.


Edenred’s Christmas SelectionWith Edenred’s family of Christmas rewards you can offer an unrivalled choice to your employees so that they can make the decision over what gift they receive, having a greater impact and enhancing employee engagement and motivation for the New Year.

No other brand in the incentives and rewards market can match the choice of reward options available. If you’re looking to engage and motivate employees, offer them the reward of choice:

COMPLIMENTS CARD• A prepaid card that can be spent in over 100 different retailers, which includes high street

favourites John Lewis, Selfridges, House of Fraser and Toys R Us. In fact there are more retailers than any other solution on the market today.

• Choose from 4 different designs, with the option to add your company logo, or a fully branded option is available.

• Chip & PIN functionality to enable enhanced security and wider in-store acceptance thanks to the Compliments Card being part of the Mastercard® network.

• Can be reloaded and used as a reward mechanism all year round.

COMPLIMENTS VOUCHER• Our multi-store gift voucher can be used at over

130 high street brands - over 20,000 outlets, including 350 independent stores. That’s 40 more national retailers than any other B2B multi-store gift voucher on the market today, but more importantly; more choice for your recipients.

• Can be spent at well-known high street brands including John Lewis, B&Q, Argos, Ernest Jones and Oasis.

• Branding options are available on the voucher wallets to personalise your reward.


COMPLIMENTS SELECT• Compliment Select is an online reward platform that lets you issue almost any kind of

reward, of any value, to any recipient, in any location.

• An easy 3 step process to issue and redeem awards:1. Reward Managers issue the reward online and the chosen recipients receive an email

with a unique code.2. Recipients redeem their code via an easy to use online platform, choosing from the

full Compliments range of multi-store and single-store retail cards and vouchers, incentive travel and experience days - covering over 350 brands.

3. We then fulfil their order and deliver to their selected address.

• The platform is easy to set up, can be branded with your logo and can be used through-out the year as an on-going reward tool.

COMPLIMENTS PASSPORT• Compliments Passport provides an unrivalled choice of holiday rewards for worldwide

destinations and resorts and is a perfect way to motivate and reward high performance individuals.

• You can either decide on the destination yourself, or create a Compliments Passport to a specific value and give the recipient the freedom to travel wherever they wish.

• Vouchers can be redeemed with our own in-house ABTA approved agency, who can help tailor the perfect getaway.

COMPLIMENTS EXPERIENCES• Want to give something truly unique this year? Our gift card offers recipients the chance to

redeem rewards on over 1,500 experiences and activity days.

• From driving fast cars to relaxing in luxury spas, Compliments Experiences has something to suit every taste and every budget.

• You can choose to reward recipients with specific experiences or give them the freedom to make their own choice.

• Recipients will receive an experience gift pack, allowing them to book their chosen experience as and when they like.

RESTAURANT AND FOOD VOUCHERS• Christmas is a time for enjoying good food and with our restaurant and food vouchers,

your reward recipients can eat and shop at over 33,000 food outlets nationwide, including Café Rouge, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Bella Italia

• Help towards the cost of the expensive Christmas shop or a meal out with friends and family over the festive period.

• Easy for you to implement, the vouchers can be purchased in a range of price denominations and used anytime during the year, not just for Christmas.


EMPLOYEE SAVINGSChristmas can be an expensive and stressful time of year. Employee Savings is a great way for you motivate and engage employees by offering exclusive savings, discounts and offers for everyday spending such as supermarket shopping or large ticket items, such as a laptop, holidays, or gifts during the holiday season. Not just for Christmas, Employee Savings can be used all year round featuring:

• Over 90 lines of reloadable gift cards, vouchers, SMS vouchers and e-vouchers to spend at over 350 top brands such as Debenhams, Sainsbury’s and PC World. We’re proud to say we’ve got the largest selection by far compared to other schemes like this on the market today.

• Over 5,000 GPS located instant savings and coupons available on the mobile version of the website.

• Over 400 discounts to redeem in-store, online or over the phone.

• Over 1,400 cash back options on insurance, utilities and lifestyle products.

• New for 2014 - the UK’s first eGift Cards for instant vouchers straight to your inbox.

Employee Savings is a scalable solution that can be tailored to both large organisations and SMEs.

HAMPERSThe ultimate gift for food lovers, our luxurious food hampers come in all shapes and sizes and can be themed to suit all tastes. Simply get in touch for a quote.

For more information on our full Christmas reward and recognition packages, including fulfilment and communication services:

Visit: www.edenred.co.uk/christmas-rewardsEmail: [email protected]: 0844 264 0059


Date post:	20-Aug-2015
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Reward & Recognition at Christmas 2014

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