Today's more competitive workforce definitely does. Which is why workplace perks are fantastic rewards. Not only do they cost you as a company very little, but they show recognition in the workplace to all your employees and create the kind of friendly camaraderie that grows successful companies.
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Why it works so well: In most workplaces, the 'corner office' or a manager's office is a sign of respect and accomplishment. Lending out your space for a day or a week to an employee that has earned it through a training program transfers that level of respect to them and not only shows that you recognize their achievement, but that you have the humility to give up your company hierarchy. Depending on the size of your company, access to the person at the top can be extremely limited and a sign of respect. Setting up a dinner with the CEO or president for your winner can increase loyalty, give them a chance to pitch their ideas and thoughts to a top decision maker, and make them feel noticed and recognized.
As an added bonus, it also helps your boss connect with workers they might not normally be able to, fostering a better sense of community and culture at the company. Like your office, a parking spot that's close to the office or in the shade shows a high-level of value and accomplishment. Give it up to your winner for a week as a daily reminder of how you value them. As an added bonus, you could even get a small sign with their name printed on it to show that the space is really 'theirs' for the week.
Your winner won the competition because they're competitive, and because they work hard, and giving them a little help by hiring a personal assistant for the week is a great way to recognize the time and effort they put in every single day. It also can become an aspirational experience, showing them how much time gets eaten up by administrative or menial tasks and how much they can actually get done when they have the opportunity to focus solely on the big picture.
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While most of these perks are temporary changes, you can also reward winners with an office perk that lasts past a single day or week. Giving them a budget to upgrade or redecorate their office is a great way to create a lasting reminder that you recognize their hard work, as well as give them a space they feel good about coming into day after day. But we all have personal tastes. Giving your winner the chance to order their favorite dishes and then sharing it with the team empowers them while also providing a great perk for the entire office.
If you're bored of basic catering or a pizza party, try something like an office bbq or even bringing in a private chef to cook for you on site. A recent study by Harris Group found that 72 percent of millennials prefer to spend more money on experiences than on material items. So while perks and special swag are still great rewards, offering up exclusive experiences can do even more to show that you align with your workforce's values.
Even better, by offering up experiences, you're creating a reward that your workforce brings back into the office through re-telling what happened and instils some serious FOMO when they post pictures of where they've been. It's pretty much impossible to find someone who doesn't love either a certain kind of music or a specific sports team. Not only that, but these events are prime spots for social media posts, giving your winner a chance to show off. Find out before what sort of events are happening near you and grab a pair of great tickets as a reward.
Despite so many modern workplaces offering 'unlimited vacations', a new study from jobs site Glassdoor says that U. Forcing your winner to take time off not only gives them a well-needed rest, but signals to the rest of your team that it's OK to take the time they've earned and can help create a happier, more productive culture. If your winner likes to wind down with a bottle of beer or a glass of wine, why not send them somewhere local to up their taste level? Let them bring a friend or significant other along for the ride. Just make sure you book the tour for a Friday or Saturday to make them feel like they can really relax and enjoy themselves.
Music festivals are great for their overall vibe, but for real music lovers, a dedicated concert is such a better experience. Check online to see who's coming to town and book VIP tickets well in advance. Not only does this create a truly exclusive experience, but it shows your team that you've been thinking about rewarding them in advance.
The benefits of exercise on our performance in the workplace are well documented, but the last thing you want to reward your winner with is a trip to the treadmill. Instead, look for an extreme adventure experience like ziplining, rock climbing, or even kayaking. Not only will this give them an experience they can talk about and share, but exercising creates a sense of euphoria and can even lead to extended periods of increased happiness. If your work is demanding, it's not only hard to find time to spend with loved ones, but that time often consists of eating or decompressing over some Netflix.
However, researchers from the University of Michigan have found that more access to time with people we care about makes us happier and less likely to become depressed at home and at work. Try giving your winner some stress-free downtime by booking a romantic dinner cruise or other date night for them to take their partner out on. Need we say more? Show appreciation to your winner with some dedicated 'me time' by giving them a spa day or other special treatment. Not all of your rewards have to be based on items or experiences.
And in fact, it's sometimes easier to single out and recognize an employee than you think. Even without spending a dime. While special treatment in the workplace can go wrong if it shows favoritism, using it as a reward shows that it's clearly merit based and can be inspiring for everyone. More than just a bit of down-time while the rest of the world is working, giving your winner a Friday afternoon off can let them get a jump start on the weekend or plan a trip out of town with friends. Sure, the rest of the team will be jealous when they start packing up at noon, but that's the point.
As we pointed out before, millennial workers are desperate for a leg-up in the workplace. And giving them access to the smartest people in their career path is a great way to give them that. Find conferences in your city or state that line up with what your team is interested in and what you want them to learn and pay for the winner to go. Even better, buy two tickets and let them bring a co-worker of their choice. Your commute is a way to mentally prepare for your day at work.
Yet, for most workers their bus ride or drive in is far from inspiring. In fact, a study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Alan Krueger revealed that, even among our least favorite activities like household chores, commuting ranked dead last. Try giving your winner a break from their commute and a chance to work from home. If you want your winner to feel recognized and you have a workplace dress code in effect, what better way than to let them come to work in whatever they want?
Not only will this make them more comfortable at work, but it's a day-long reminder of their achievement and a way for them to stand out from the rest of the team. Just like leaving late on a Friday, giving your winner a late start at the beginning of the week lets them make more plans for the weekend. It also recognizes them for their achievement when they come into work, and can even make them happier all day long if it means an easier commute in not during rush hour.
When it comes to gifts, they say it's better to give than to receive. But when it comes to a merit-based reward, the social stigmas go away and we're free to enjoy our gift guilt-free. So whether it's a luxury item or something simple, swag of all sorts is a great way to reward your winner for their hard work.
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Just like the laptop or iPad, tech accessories are one of the hottest gift items out there and can instil some serious competitive rivalry in your team. Pick something current and that can be used daily as a reminder to your winner that you recognize the hard work they put in. If you live in a city with ride-sharing, your employees most likely use it.
They might even use it to get into work on a daily basis.
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Give them a credit with the service they use the most that will cover a month of trips. More than just a reward for your sole winner, offering a special event for the entire team creates a stronger culture and makes your winner feel like a champion of the people. However, make sure that each of these rewards has a focus on the winner so they still feel recognized and empowered in how the activity takes place.
When we experience an emotion as a group, like laughter during a comedy or fear during a thriller, we create a strong psychological bond. What better way to create a stronger team than to take a slow afternoon off to watch a movie in the office? As an added bonus, let your winner pick the film. Getting everyone out of the office for some activities and games is another great way to build a strong culture and get your team to know each other better.
Pick activities that are accessible to your entire team and get your winner to act as a 'team leader' to make them feel empowered.
Not all rewards need to carry a monetary value, and sometimes it's the intangible rewards that carry a weight and value that inspires your workers. Think about small gestures you can do that will give your winner a sense of pride and let them know that they are respected by the entire team.
In fact Polman famously stopped quarterly reporting and drew a line in the sand by making it clear he wanted investors who were interested only in supporting the long-term health of the company. He believes government has a role to play here and argues for a progressive taxation system for share ownership, pointing out that equities in FTSE companies are held for on average just eight months. There could be different share structures where dividends attract a higher tax rate depending on how long you hold shares. There are options if you really want to address that issue.
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This is the right time to do that. Polman says CEOs on their own cannot significantly influence the financial markets, and given that Unilever is a consumer goods company, it makes more sense to focus the company's attention on changing the behaviour of its two billion customers, who account for the majority of the company's environmental footprint. One aspect is to encourage customers to use resources more efficiently, such as taking shorter showers and washing clothes in lower temperatures.
The other is encouraging them to switch to more sustainable products. Polman says some clear lessons have already been learnt, such as consumers will not buy 'green' products unless their performance is as good and they do not have to pay a premium: But he believes we are now entering a new era when consumers will stop buying products from companies they see are not behaving responsibly.
Consumers recognise they can drop a company instantly. This is not utopia, it is enlightened self interest. Polman, like other business leaders, is frustrated by the lack of clear incentives to support the transition to a sustainable society, and is a firm believer in progressive regulation that is based on incentives.
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I am a free enterprise person but that is not the only solution. A system where you can have positive reinforcement for the long term is more effective than rules and regulations. If I had to run my company with bibles of guidelines I would not be in business long term. Polman acknowledges there is a new generation of CEOs, brought up in the s, who have a more rounded view of the role of business in society. But he believes previous generations would also have responded to the challenges facing the world "because the clarity of the issues we are facing now are so transparent.
When we went into the Second World War, the business leaders combined took a decision for the greater good of the UK to fight for freedom and when they came out, to get the economy back on track. When the challenges are big enough people respond in a responsible way. It's one thing a CEO putting his weight behind a leading-edge sustainability strategy, but how is Unilever embedding this across a company with nearly , employees operating in countries, owning hundreds of brands and directly touching the lives of million people across its supply chain.
Polman points to the importance of preparing the groundwork before going public, Cancelling quarterly reporting and changing the way employees are incentivised were two key ways of moving the company away from concentrating on the short-term. Measurement of impacts has also been critical in understanding where the company's key impacts are and being able to set intelligent targets for improvement. Making more money or being bigger means less and less," he says. Our buying people have KPIs on the percentage of sustainable sourcing, we measure how many small-holder farmers we employ, we measure the full impact of water, carbon, packaging, waste, of all of our products and reward our people for moving in the right direction.
Polman is delighted by the way staff have responded, although more work needs to be done to push change down into the middle management layers. The engagement score in the regular staff survey leaped by 10 percentage points after the Sustainable Living Plan was launched. Polman says this shocked the survey company because they had never seen this level of change before. Every country I visit I go to consumers and retailers to look at the impact of our products, the contribution our products make to society.
While some people worry that the pace of change is far too slow to address the scale of problems the world is facing, Polman cautions against pessimism and suggests that the foundations for transformation are being put in place. In the corporate world, he points to the growing number of companies reporting on their impacts and disclosing their carbon emissions and he points to the rapid growth of socially responsible investment funds in the financial markets.
Beyond that he says investment banks are coming together to help halt illegal deforestation and that they are starting to think about their business models, although he recognises they are doing this under pressure from critics rather than voluntarily. Within the field of corporate responsibility, Polman is considered to be the most influential advocate for challenging the status quo and showing that business as usual is not an option. But he brushes aside this reputation and points out he could not have taken the position he does if the values of responsibility were not already embedded in the company's culture.
We are seeking to stay close to society to guarantee our future. We'll be live streaming the debate on Guardian Sustainable Business, if you'd like us to send you a reminder when the event is about start then register your interest below. You can also pose questions to Paul in advance and we'll endeavour to get them answered on the day. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox.
The Giant Hands; or, the Reward of Industry by Alfred Crowquill
The role of government He believes government has a role to play here and argues for a progressive taxation system for share ownership, pointing out that equities in FTSE companies are held for on average just eight months. You can also pose questions to Paul in advance and we'll endeavour to get them answered on the day This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional.
Topics Unilever sustainable living sustainable living.