Time to reward your staff!

WITH all the negativity surrounding the credit crunch, dealerships would do well to think about performing a u-turn on how they reward dealers and keep staff motivated, according to company Love2Reward.

 

The 2008 CIPD Reward Management Report found that only 39 per cent of companies in the private services sector have a reward strategy. Love2Reward says this is one of the most alarming findings as reward schemes are one of the most effective ways to motivate the workforce.

 

As the price of food, fuel and utilities go up but wages stay the same, it could be a good time to think about handing out a few incentives for successful deals and loyalty.

 

Martin Cooper, Sales and Marketing Manager for Love2Reward (pictured right) said: ‘One of the main objectives for investing in a reward and recognition scheme is to encourage staff loyalty and thereby reduce attrition.   

 

‘Achieving this results in well-accepted benefits to the employer such as consistent service levels, improved customer retention and cross/up-selling performance, from staff.’

 

Sales incentives are well established in the automotive sector, but does rewarding just stop there – how about the idea of recognising and rewarding loyalty? 

 

As little as 10 years ago, rewards for loyal service would typically be given to employees who had served between 20-25 years within the same company.  

 

And while this may still be the case within the public sector, the private sector’s idea of a ‘long-server’ is shrinking. Perhaps we should be thinking even more radically and rewarding those who have stayed-the-course for 12 months or even less, say Love2Reward.

 

The cost of presenting a 12-month employee with a £50 Love2shop voucher or a day out at Alton Towers weighted against the potential loss of an undervalued employee, with the ensuing cost of rehiring, retraining, disruption to operations and the negative effect on workforce morale, is significant.  

 

Prevention really is better than the cure here – and the act of recognition is just as important, if not more than, the reward itself.