Developing Post-COVID Recognition Culture in Organizations

As Yash woke up from his alarm tone, he rushed to get his laptop and quickly wore a clean shirt and a tie before even freshening up. The daily sprint update meeting was about to start in a minute. He swiftly chose a quiet corner in the house and sat in front of the screen, ready to report to his manager. Followed by 6-8 hours of working on his project and simultaneously managing the household chores, he dozed off early to start the same cycle again tomorrow. 

This is how the life of every working professional has become since the lockdown was imposed due to coronavirus flare-up in the country. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has stirred up businesses like never before. Although with the passing time, companies have managed to sail through, taking some remedial measures still need to continue in the coming time. If we talk about the employee morale going down, the only way to keep the spirit alive is by organizing rewards & recognition programs even in these tough times as employees continue to work from home.

Here are 5 major ways to develop post-COVID reward & recognition in the corporate world:

It has been observed that local stores and vendors have suffered huge losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Given the downfall in small-scale businesses, it is time to support them and come forward to bring them up by purchasing gifts articles from them and give away the same to your employees as rewards.

You can also give them monetary benefits based on their contribution and use the payroll software to include the same in the salary of the employees. Being “vocal for local” is one of the most impactful initiatives that the government is also promoting for the startups to control the damage suffered by them. 

Since employees have been working from home day and night even during the lockdown period, it is imperative that they get something in return. So, many organizations have started a reward system specific to the work from home culture.

For instance, if the daily deliverables are met by the employees working remotely, then they are recognized by EOD. If the performance is evaluated on a monthly basis, then the same is taken into account at the time of salary release. And similarly, the employees’ contribution to business growth is also considered during the annual R&R program. 

As most of the organizations have permitted their workforce to work remotely, physical presence in the office premises is not a thing these days. Therefore, it is the employer’s or HR professionals’ duty to keep the working spark alive amongst the employees and maintain their productivity by conducting virtual reward sessions.

Through zoom calls, google meets, or other video conferencing platforms, the R&R programs can be organized easily, whenever necessary. Moreover, these events can be made fun by adding virtual games and recreational activities to the same.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” These challenging situations are unpredictable and have caused a deep impact on everyone’s life. Given the uncertainty of such unfortunate events like the sudden spread of COVID-19, organizations have started taking extra care of their employees.

It is now a vital part of the system to provide safety and sanitation products to the professionals just like any other basic necessity. So, it is also a thoughtful gift to offer your workforce a complete safety kit which contains hand sanitizers, N-95 masks, soaps, and indoor plants, etc. This is going to be one of the most considerate and useful rewards for the employees as it is the need of the hour. 

As a result of the full-time work from home regime since the lockdown was first implemented, employers have had the chance to know the families of their employees better than before. Hence, it would be a good gesture if the organization starts thinking about the “plus ones”  of the employees too.

Several benefits can be provided to the parents, spouse, siblings, children, or even pets of the employees who perform well or contribute extraordinarily to the organization’s growth in such a testing time. At the end, the payroll software can be used to take care of the budgetary parameters and make calculations for each reward given to the employees’ families.

Employees can also be offered redeemable reward points or vouchers for online shopping since they can’t go out amid all the social/physical distancing. Else, on the basis of their performance, the workforce can be awarded virtual money or points which can be converted into real money and added to their accounts directly.

Besides, employers can also provide several medical benefits such as compensation on medicines, regular body check-ups, and enroll for health insurance schemes among others to ensure financial aid for them. In this way, the employees can easily sail through the course of global pandemic and be prepared to tackle similar problems in the future.