Those digits we’re all so happy to see tumble from our wage slip into our bank accounts each month go a long way towards keeping me, you and our families fed, watered and sheltered. Whether we like it or not, for most of us, our level of pay can have a great effect on our lifestyles, opportunities, levels of happiness and even our levels of self-worth. Searching for a higher level of pay is often one of the main reasons for leaving one company for another. But if the company’s pockets are somewhat bare, how can flight risks be prevented?

There’s no question about it, monetary rewards are the most commonly used motivator for a good reason, but they don’t complete the loop. The good news for those employers out there who can’t afford to hand out a novelty sized cheque with a figure resembling a lottery win, is that there is another, rather simple way to ensure employees feel as truly valued and content as possible.

Our base pay is there to reward us for completing the task in hand; it’s our bread and butter and the just reward we receive for getting the job done. There are of course a host of fortunate souls out there that on top of this, get the opportunity to earn above and beyond through bonuses, sales schemes and incentives rewarding levels of high performance. These are the employees that need to be retained at all costs by a business, but when the vault is empty what can we do?

Well, whether we like to admit it or not, a great deal of us are rather delicate souls when it comes to feeling valued in the workplace; the difference between an okay, average day and a fist-pumpingly good day can all too frequently be a ‘well done’ from the boss, a pat on the back, or the last line of the email on a Friday that says ‘great effort this week.’ Best of all, it’s completely free.

Does this sound a bit too warm, a bit too fuzzy? But we all need a bit of nurturing. While I’ve never met an unhappy billionaire (or if I’m being honest, any at all, they don’t tend to move in the same social circles as me), cold hard cash alone does not make for a valued, emotionally engaged and hence motivated and content employee.

The great thing about ‘well done’, ‘great job’, ‘you smashed it today’ is that any company, whether it has a revenue of £200,000 or £200 million, can afford to squeeze it into their reward package. It’s a simple expression of gratitude that’s all too often missing from the employee deal. It lets us know that what we’ve done is valued and that our contribution to the victory has been recognised.

We might not always get the opportunity to be the one putting the ball in the back of the net or picking up the Oscar for best actor, but we’ve worked our socks off; we’re providing all the assists and giving Hollywood films a good name. We’re the John Barnes of the team, a pre-2016 Oscar Leonardo DiCaprio and my goodness do we deserve a nod of appreciation.

The beautiful game and Academy Award nominations aside, the obvious facts are that all the recognition in the world won’t help resolve a poorly paid employee’s critical needs. Similarly though, pay raises and shiny cars won’t meet our more humanistic needs either. If possible, balancing cash rewards and recognition alongside each other, may well hit the spot when it comes to levels of employee contentment, performance and importantly, retention.

 So even if you can’t throw bags of (carefully tax recorded) cash at your employees, you can make sure everyone gets the little hit of endorphins they deserve when they’ve gone above and beyond. With this, a happier workforce we shall remain.

If you’d like to discuss a recognition scheme for your organisation, please email me at ben.rowley@innecto.com or call 020 3457 0894.

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