What makes experiential employee rewards such an effective HR tool?
The experiential employee rewards program is an essential part of every company’s HR department, its main function being to motivate and recognize employees for their productive performance while strengthening the bond between employees and the company.
Recently, there has been an increase in the usage of experiential employee rewards, and the reason behind it is quite simple. It has been proven to be the most effective and impactful type of recognition! This type of reward replaces the impersonal, generic employee reward with a meaningful and memorable experience.
Since the employee recognition program plays a crucial part when it comes to long-lasting loyalty and successful retention of the company’s employees, it is of great importance to choose the right rewards system!
In order to successfully implement an employee rewards program, the company needs to get to know its most valuable resource- the employees!
Who are your employees today?
In the past decade, there has been a shift in the labor market generation-wise, nowadays more than half of the workforce is consisted of Millennials (people born between the years 1981 and 1996). According to the latest research in HR management, studies have shown that by the year 2025 Millennials will compromise 75% of the global workforce! Having said that, it is necessary to get to know them as soon as possible, for future reference! Even now employers are facing difficulties when it comes to engaging with and retaining this crucial generation.
What do your employees prefer as a reward?
It is claimed that 84% of Millennials would rather choose experience as a reward than a monetary one. The value that this generation places on experience depicts how important their community and self-value means to them, by choosing to spend more money on things like music festivals, traveling, workshops and performances. Essentially, they are looking for experiences that can be enjoyed at the moment. Millennials swear by events shared with friends and loved ones that create pleasant memories they can relive looking back on them.
What makes experiential employee rewards so effective?
1. Strengthens Employee Loyalty
Letting your employee choose the right experience, which truly depicts theirs’ interests, desires, dreams, is not only a highly effective motivator but also a means of strengthening employee loyalty.
Using an emotional appeal through experience-based rewards can result in an elevation of employee’s satisfaction to employee loyalty. One way of creating an emotional and memorable connection between the company and the employee is by choosing a customized experience that will forever imprint your company in the employee’s hearts!
Unlike using monetary rewards, by introducing experiential ones, a strong relationship based on mutual gratitude and respect can be built. You will strike as the kind of boss that recognizes employees as real people, with real wants and needs. Furthermore, the retention is guaranteed!
2.Personalizes Employee Relationship Management
Everyone likes to feel appreciated and special, by customizing rewards, and giving your employees the experience they actually want, the touch of personalization will enhance their performance as well as their motivation when it comes to meeting organizational goals in the most effective way.
Monetary rewards are so impersonal, it directly shows your employees that no real-time or energy was invested in their rewards. Hence, it doesn’t really make them feel valued and acknowledged for their efforts. Experiential employee rewards in fact, do the opposite! Achieving the effect your company was initially going for, while leaving long-lasting memories, incorporated with positive emotions, directly associated with your company!
By offering your employees a choice of experience-based rewards or picking out one, which completely suits your employee and their interests, you are actively showing them the effort and thought you have put into their reward. Furthermore, because the reward is so unique and personalized, employees’ motivation to actually get it, raises quite distinctly and progressively.
3. Cultivates Brand Culture
In this manner of speaking, mental accounting refers to how employees remember the reward, the stronger the impact, the longer-lasting the memory is. Luckily, experiences are more memorable than monetary incentives. Why?
It is claimed by the scientists, that experiences can evoke much stronger and longer-lasting emotions than transactional benefits. Basically, when you give your employees cash as a reward, they usually perceive it as an extra income which will be spent on some of the housing-related expenses, such as paying the bills or doing grocery shopping.
Whereas when you reward them with once in a lifetime experience, every time they recall that experience, they are going to immediately link it with your company. The same thing cannot be said for monetary rewards. It is highly unlikely that your employee will remember paying February’s electricity bill with the cash bonus you gave them. Making experiential employee rewards an obvious choice for your employee recognition program. Additionally, they will talk to their friends, family, and colleagues about the experience, reliving it over and over again.
4. Provides Free Marketing
Nowadays, almost everyone has at least 2 social media profiles. Whether it is Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, everybody is on it, and people are constantly sharing what they are doing, thinking of, enjoying on social media.
In general, people like to do things, especially interesting things, which represent one of a kind experiences. Plus, they love being seen by others doing these things. Hence, people love to post what they’re doing on social media, especially if they are going on a free event or a trip. When they do so, important potential and existing stakeholders will see what type of attractive work culture is being practiced in your company.
Additionally, it works as a free press for your company. If your employees reference your company in their post, they are immediately raising the brand awareness. They are also indicating that your company really values and recognizes their employees as one of the most important assets! In the long run, this generates considerable ROI for your company while strengthening the company’s culture and morale!
What do experts say about experience-based rewards?
A recently released study shows that companies that used employee recognition programs have achieved an average performance gain of 48% in productivity after just 6 months.
The research claims that in order for a monetary reward to be seen as meaningful for the best employee it would need to be at least 50% higher than the one for the average employee. Hence, if it is not viewed as meaningful, then the monetary incentive wasn’t as effective as a reward.
Another study suggests that experience-based rewards always have a positive impact on the employees and that it can be greatly effective in genuinely motivating employees to work towards given goals. Furthermore, this type of reward makes the employee feel fully appreciated and emotionally attached to the company.
In order for the employee rewards program to be successful, the right type of rewards needs to be chosen, in coordination with your employees, culture, and rules.
What do we offer?
There are numerous options when it comes to choosing the right experiential employee reward in Greece. Grekaddict.com can offers carefully selected and curated experiences, chosen with great attention to detail, by our team of experts. As a company, we always strive for perfection, and this is well reflected in our supreme collection of top team building activities and corporate incentive trips!
Why choose us?
In order to make it a one of a kind experience, we work with various outstanding suppliers and partners. Each and every one of them has something unique to bring to your company. With more than 200 activities located all over Greece, we promise you the best experiential employee rewards in Greece, specially tailored for your organisation. Send us an inquiry, and we will make sure your company stays imprinted in your employee’s hearts forever.
Are you in the search for impactful experiential team building activities that will not only build a stronger team, but allow the company to connect with their employees on a much higher level too?
Contact us to receive our exclusive collection of carefully selected team-building activities, and provide your employees with unforgettable and meaningful moments that will be remembered forever!
