Top 5 Non-Financial Work Rewards To Motivate And Retain Your Employees

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Attracting and retaining top-performing employees, as well as improving productivity levels can be achieved in a number of ways, and not only through monetary incentives. 

In a competitive business climate, leaders should not only consider rewards and recognition programs, but also the critical elements that provide each employee with a sense of workplace alignment. Below are the top 5 non-financial work rewards your employees value the most. 

1. Sense of achievement 

Every employee wants to feel a sense of accomplishment in their workplace. As a matter of fact, reaching goals that have been set is one of the most critical elements in employee engagement.  

As a leader, you need to encourage a sense of achievement within your employees. That can be done by setting achievable goals for your team, offering support without micromanaging, and celebrating hard work and big milestones. 

2. Opportunities to travel 

Travel opportunities can be a strong employee motivator, it has become a key way to attract and retain strong candidates. With that being said, it doesn’t necessarily have to be exotic destinations. Even simple company outings can go a long way. 

Some organizations even go to the extent of implementing travel programs employees can qualify for based on performance and goals achieved. 

3. Career progression 

No matter how adequate an employee is to their position or how efficient they are, they need to be able to see a future with your organization. You need to build a thoughtful and strategic career progression framework to support your team’s long-term goals in a structured way. 

While salary expectations is one of the main reasons employees look for employment elsewhere, the lack of career progression is just as important.

4. Leadership position 

If your employees have any aspirations for leadership positions, they need to know that it is a possibility within your organization. Leadership opportunities can be a powerful incentive for employee retention. It is your responsibility to identify the ones who value that and match them with the right opportunities.

5. Personal growth

Personal development is extremely important in the workplace. It empowers your employees to produce better results and meet their goals throughout the year. Personal development is not a linear process, it is through an exploration of identity, talents, potential, and aspirations that people can see actual growth. A powerful incentive for your employees, is to support them throughout this process.

How to identify their priority of rewards? 

Implementing these non-financial rewards is not enough, identifying each employee’s order of priority is key. A tool such as Business DNA can be a game-changer for your organization. Through an elaborate Natural Behavior Discovery process, you can have access to a summary of the most critical elements for your team to have maximum workplace alignment. 

Related: 5 Things to Know About Behavioral Finance