Recognising and Rewarding Staff Performance

We all like to be recognized and rewarded for displaying correct behaviours and is a great motivator. Using Mystery/Secret Shoppers is a great way to monitor which of your staff are following your procedures when dealing with customers.

Some businesses have an Instant Reward Programme set up where Mystery/Secret Shoppers are used to test a certain Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and if they are successful, they will be rewarded on the spot.  Examples can be:

Greeting and Approach

KPI:  All customers are to be greeted within 1 minute of entering the store and then approached with an open-ended question.

Add on sales:

KPI:  All staff are to suggest an add on to each customer when they show interest in a particular product or service.

Closing of the Sale:

KPI:  There must be a positive attempt to close the sale

Farewell:

KPI: All customers must be thanked for their visit and invited back in the future

It is important to reward the staff member immediately if they achieve the desired behaviour.  The longer the delay in providing the reward after their achievement, the less of an impact it has shaping subsequent behavior.

Why Instant Rewards and Recognition Work

Employee incentives and rewards work because they motivate employees and drive specific behaviors which will then become a habit. It is positive reinforcement—reinforcing a behavior with a positive reward which will be beneficial to not only the staff member but for your business for the following reasons:

Employee Incentives Make People Feel Valued

Businesses are more successful if they make their employees feel valued and appreciated.

This is where implementing an Instant Reward Programme can make a difference.  Having a Mystery/Secret Shopper enter your business and have your staff successful in achieving the desired behaviour is great recognition and is immediate.  It does not have to be a big reward and can be something small like a petrol voucher or movie tickets.

Employee Rewards will Improve Workplace Morale

To effectively recognize employee performance in your business, be sure to evaluate your people objectively, and provide them with regular feedback which can be done with a Mystery Shopping Programme which will detail all aspects of the interaction or with an Instant Reward Programme which will look at one predetermined KPI and then reward them immediately.

In The Carrot Principle, authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton discuss a study they did of employee performance over a ten-year period. Their research showed that employee performance was highest when they received performance incentives like praise or accolades. These incentives inspired performance significantly better than even money.

It is that simple, and you will see a change in working habits, morale, and results.