Back in Office: HR's Guide to Rewarding Employees

As an HR professional, it’s time to start thinking about rewarding employees as employees say goodbye to their remote workspaces and return to their desks. Overall, as offices are transitioning to in-person working environments after countless months of working remotely, from home, keeping employee morale high is top of mind.

Human Resources departments play an important role in keeping the company together. According to Capterra, HR oversees employment-related functions, such as recruitment, payroll, compensation management, onboarding, performance management, as well as exit interview strategies.

As people are heading back to work from a virtual setting, it’s up to the Human Resources department to make sure the transition runs smoothly and efficiently. There are sure to be some bumps in the road, but one way to help employees get back into the swing of things is through offering digital rewards.

The Concept of a Reward

It’s easy for an employee to get lost in the numbers and feel like they aren't important to a company. It doesn’t happen on purpose, but it is easy to feel under-appreciated as a part of a larger, corporation.

One way to assure employees feel appreciated is through rewards. According to this small business survey, 79 percent of employees say that recognition makes them work harder, and 78 percent are more productive after being rewarded.

Make Sure Employees Know About Rewards

Once employee rewards are chosen, make sure information about the reward is properly communicated through the human resources and marketing - or corporate communications - departments. This information should include how employees earn and receive said rewards.

Reward programs are something an entire company can enjoy. So, if that means sending out a mass email or putting dates into a corporate calendar, don’t be afraid to do it.

Clearly outline the instructions of the reward too. If employees are required to meet a certain expectation, be honest and upfront in the details. This way, they can actively work to achieve their goals (and their employee reward).

Be Unique and Have Fun

As an HR department, do not just hand out rewards on a certain day each month. Instead, incorporate spontaneity.

With over 50 different gift card brands to choose from within the Giftbit platform, you have the freedom to think outside the box. Being in-person also creates room for different ways to earn rewards. Since we are not limited to a virtual setting, different and new - or perhaps 'old' from pre-COVID days - employee tasks can be rewarded.

Recognize small and large accomplishments coming from your team. Coming back into the office won’t be easy for everyone at first, so starting off with some easy rewards from the get-go might be a good way to introduce this system.

No matter what your HR leader decides to do with employee rewards amongst the return to office, allow for some rewards to be earned through collaboration.

Rewards do not always need to before individualized tasks. These tend to keep people isolated, and frankly, we’ve all had enough of isolation through Zoom. Let’s not keep that cycle going if we don’t have to.