AN HR CHECKLIST TO SELECTING THE RIGHT REWARDS & RECOGNITION PLATFORM

With thousands of employee R&R systems and platforms proliferating in the market, it becomes a cumbersome process for organisations to determine the right technology to drive their R&R initiatives. Here is a checklist for selecting the R&R platform for your workforce:

With almost every aspect of HR being augmented, rewards are still in the past. For a long period reared shave has been a pretty straightforward process - determining the right mix of compensations and other monetary and non-monetary benefits. However, with rising dissatisfaction among employees, rewards and recognition have become a more strategic discussion to attract and retain talent. The shifting power from employers to employees has once again paved the way for organisations to transition from a standardised and sluggish rewards system to a more agile and personalised rewards system.

Businesses have realised that Work & HR Tech will play centre stage in transforming employee experience and moments that matter to your employees. Today, HR technology is no longer a tool that enables digitisation but has metamorphosed into a platform that impacts people and business outcomes. Hence, organisations can no longer leave R&R in silos while we automate and digitise our other work and HR processes. Enterprises have the options of sophisticated technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) Machine Learning (ML) and analytics to deliver holistic, personalised, and well-rounded R&R experiences in real-time.

However, with thousands of employee R&R systems and platforms proliferating in the market, it becomes a cumbersome process for organisations to determine the right technology to drive their R&R initiatives. Here is a checklist for selecting the R&R platform for your workforce:

Ø  What is wrong with the current R&R strategy?

The “right now” access to resources and demand for instant gratification has become a norm. As per an earlier report by Deloitte, employees respond favourably to agile compensation programs that offer raises, bonuses, or other incentives more than the traditional once-a-year rewards system. While organisations have made their performance management processes flexible and moved from once a year review system to a quarterly review system, remunerations, incentives and compensation hikes still follow a once-a-year traditional approach.

Another challenge is that R&R programs are unfair. Pay for performance, pay fairness, and pay equity has become a debate among employees. Often dissatisfaction arising from lack of recognition and unequal pay is leading to a rising attrition rate. Making rewards and recognition transparent, real-time, and equal is critical for employee retention and experience.

Ø  How to create the right reward strategy that engages and delights an employee?

Some of the key differentiators that separate successful from unsuccessful rewards programs:

Link rewards with business outcomes:

The end mind of any reward program is to acknowledge and appreciate the great performance. Hence, until and unless R&R programs are linked with business outcomes, employees will be clueless about what is expected from them and when their performance will be rewarded. Employees should clearly understand the connection between their performance, organisational outcomes, and rewards.

Personalise rewards according to employees’ needs

As it is famously said, one size doesn’t fit all; Rewards and recognition won’t matter to employees until they see the value in it. Your R&R strategy should motivate people and hence, the rewards need to be personalised and tailored to employees’ needs and wants.

Offer instant recognition

“Recognition delayed is recognition denied”.

Quick recognition has a monumental impact on employee engagement that translates directly to productivity.

Ø  How to select the right R&R platform for your workforce?

While selecting the R&R platform for your organisation, look out for the following features:

·         Look for intelligent data and meaningful information: The technology should offer you reports and insights that help calculate the ROI of the program, adoption levels, its overall impact on employee performance, suggestions on adjusting and improving the program and personalisation levels of the reward and recognition.

·         Pricing & Budget: While selecting the technology provider, scrutinise for hidden costs involved in the program such as transaction fees, and yearly, monthly, or one-time expenses.

·         Enable rewards & recognition program for a hybrid workforce: It is critical to acknowledge the need to reward and recognise the distributed workforce to make them feel part of your workforce and engage them constantly. Adopt a digital platform which enables peer-to-peer recognition.

·         Seamless integration with HRIS/HRMS platform or other work tools: R&R software or platforms that seamlessly integrate with a wide range of HRIS & HRMS and other work tools like collaboration tools like Slack and Teams make it easier for HR and employees to connect, recognise, reward, engage, and share feedback in the flow of work.

·         Intuitive UI and experience: People today spend most of their time on their mobiles; hence, it makes sense to invest in a mobile application solution. A seamless, easy-to-use and intuitive app can make employees recognise their peers in real-time, and redeem their reward points and gifts on the go.

Your R&R platform should be able to communicate and recognise the efforts of your employees and make them feel valued. The R&R strategy you devise and the technology you choose should offer a full range of total recognition initiatives that not only boost their performance but also make them feel valued to be a part of your organisation.

-       Hrme ET