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During the height of the pandemic we found ourselves discussing an exciting new distribution partnership with a leading gift voucher vendor in the UK, Motivates.

Motivates provides Life:Style, the UK’s most flexible gift voucher with over 120 best-loved brands. 

And with a large and growing number of corporate customers using Life:Style to reward and recognize their employees, Motivates is optimally positioned to market Qarrot in the UK.

Today, I’m pleased to announce the formal launch of our partnership with Motivates. As the exclusive reseller of Qarrot in the UK, Motivates will offer a compelling combination of our cloud-based employee recognition software featuring their Life:Style gift voucher. 

In addition, Motivates’ customers will be able to pay for their Qarrot subscriptions and fund their voucher purchases in Great British Pounds (GBP).

The combination of Qarrot and Life:Style is already starting to make an impact. Shortly after our ‘soft launch’, Motivates signed up their first Qarrot account. And with the formal launch now under way, both parties are excited about the potential business opportunities that lie ahead.

Learn more about Motivates and the Life:Style gift voucher here.

As offices everywhere ease their way into the post-pandemic world, many have found that the hybrid work setup, in which employees work at the office on some days of the week and at home on others, is the best one to adopt. In fact, 63% of high-growth companies are currently using hybrid models.

However, if your business is looking into shifting to a hybrid setup or is currently in the process of doing so, your employees may have some concerns going into it. How will this fit into their current home routine? What are the chances of accidental COVID transmission?

Though any major operational change is difficult, it's far from impossible. Employee wellness is something that can be maintained and even fostered under a hybrid setup. These tips can help you get started.

Bring the team closer together

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Combat feelings of isolation and detachment between members of your team by encouraging online communication during the workday. With online platforms like Slack, employees working remotely won't feel left behind as compared to those who worked at the office.

This is especially important if your hybrid work model is similar to that followed by customer relationship management service Salesforce. Its business analysts, functional consultants, and other employees are spread between remote and office work, without any kind of rotation.

At the same time, by providing open, honest, and stress-free lines of communication, you encourage your employees to bring up any concerns they have with the hybrid setup.

Prioritize mental health

One thing that drives employees to perform better is a good mindset. Inevitably, many people bring the stress of their home life to work, and this can impact the quality of their output. And with a hybrid setup, it's difficult to assess whether an employee is going through something.

That's why it's up to management to take the initiative and check in on employees regularly. You can also recommend resources like mental health apps or even issue "mental health days" on which employees can take a break. This is especially important for more stressful occupations, such as those in customer service and event planning.

Ward off burnout

One vital part of ensuring employee mental health is preventing burnout, so much so that it's a point all on its own. With a hybrid setup, it's important to communicate boundaries and expectations, so employees avoid overworking. You can also introduce productivity software to the fold. This can come in handy for employees who have a lot on their plate.

For example, a social media manager's job is to know the latest on a brand's online presence across a variety of platforms. This can be exhausting, especially now that online activity is surging. Fortunately, they can use a social media content creation platform to help them publish posts and optimize their exposure to target demographics. This streamlines the creation process, making their tasks easier to accomplish.

It's also important to know the signs of burnout, so you can catch it and alleviate it in time. Such signs include an increased number of mistakes and decreased productivity or motivation to work. Once you spot this in an employee, consider easing their workload or allowing them more flexible scheduling options so they can work on improving their work-life balance.
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Lead by example

By also taking time off for yourself, you can encourage your employees to do the same. For example, if you're in a slump, take the initiative by going on a break so you can come back to work in full fighting force. By modeling healthy behavior, you'll be inspiring your employees to bring the best of themselves to the office every day.

Celebrate the small wins

Keep employee morale high by recognizing milestones and achievements, however small. Celebrate the most sales made in a month or even the anniversary on which they joined your team. These can be done in department-wide meetings, through private emails, or tools like Qarrot that enable peer-to-peer recognition. Either way, a confidence boost may be just the thing to help employees feel satisfied about the work they do — and your business will be better off for it.

Many employees are fed up with the one size fits all workplace model. In fact, 73 percent of your workforce prefer to work in an organization that offers more remote work options. Why? Remote work has spurred a work-life balance since many remote workers now find more time to spend with family and friends.  

But another 67 percent of the workforce want to be in work arrangements that allow face-to-face or in-person collaboration with their team members because it encourages learning and provides opportunities for career advancement.

By and large, creating a flexible work environment might be the new pillar initiative for rewarding wellness at work, especially following the increasing number of employees that report burnout cases. So yes, the future of work is hybrid, merely because your employee expectations are changing. But with these changes come new opportunities for your business as well.

For instance, a hybrid work model is very cost-effective for businesses since it encourages workspace utilization and it removes the need for maintaining unnecessary facilities in the office. But what exactly is a hybrid work model?

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Understanding The Hybrid Work Model

The core of the hybrid office model is to provide employees with the flexibility to work between the office and their remote physical space. And while hybrid work arrangements can come in many forms, in essence, a hybrid environment supports every employee’s work-style and preference.

It achieves this by allowing them to have a seamless ebb of flow between working in the office and working from home. But it requires a robust system of communication and implementation. Currently, many corporations like Amazon and Google are adopting a hybrid workforce into their business culture.

So, why is this becoming the new workplace norm? Let's find out.

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Why Hybrid Workplace Is The Future

• Your Employees Demand It

Yes, 77 percent of your workers are looking forward to engaging in hybrid setups in their organization. And with good reason. A hybrid workplace means that the employee's work style is fully supported.

They can work in the office when they want to or when it's necessary and work from any other remote location just as well. It also means that employees get to save on commute time and costs, which leaves them with a better work-life balance.

This then allows employees to operate more authentically, which helps foster a happier and more productive workforce. And since a hybrid setup empowers the worker by giving them autonomy, it motivates them to adapt better work practices and habits.

One other great advantage of adopting a hybrid work model is that it enhances employee wellbeing. More so, many workers have reported increased cases of fatigue during and after the pandemic. Therefore, a hybrid environment is an excellent way to address pandemic fatigue in the workplace. Why?

Its flexibility can allow each worker to set aside a few minutes every day to relax and unwind, making a significant difference in combating burnout. Besides, 2.9 million Canadians are still remote employees, and they would prefer to keep this autonomy well and alive long into the future.

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• Technology Enables It

Technology is making it possible to have remote jobs, so who is to say that this transformative force will not greatly support remote companies entirely in the years to come? If anything, a growing number of video, team messaging, work management, and collaboration applications are already in widespread use. Moreover, major advancements with artificial intelligence and the internet of things (IoT) will help employers and employee stay better-informed and safe.

For instance, many workers now need the assurance that their in-person workspaces are safe following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. That said, organizations can incorporate IoT sensors to determine the number of workers in the building to limit occupancy.

Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) can help identify spaces that offer social distancing and safety measures. What's more, if a company is to create a hybrid work model, it requires transparency that supports a distributed workforce.

This is where technology comes in: many options enhance collaboration and productivity within remote work settings. Enterprise apps are especially convenient and excellent at providing better collaboration between staff members.

You do not want your company to face the cost of poor employee engagement after all. In addition, AI can automate workspace schedules for employees who wish to have occasional time in-office.

• Your Company Needs It

Think about it, once you get a significant portion of your employees to work from home, you deem part if not most of your office space unnecessary. With AI in place, you can identify these spaces quickly and either release them or find better utilization for them. This means fewer maintenance costs.

Also, if you have fewer people at the office, you need less operational costs. Aside from reducing costs, a hybrid workplace is excellent for making gains and productivity, translating to increased sales and company revenue. Here's how:

Your employees are your company's foundation. So the key to your business success significantly lies in the state of your employees. And when you have a hybrid company work model, you give your workers autonomy, which offers them fewer disruptions, and increases productivity.

In essence, hybrid workplaces make the employees feel trusted and supported. In turn, they become motivated to give the organization the best results. Indeed, happier workplaces are more productive workplaces.

Chiefly, one significant reason your company needs a hybrid workplace is that it reshapes your business goals and objectives into a more employee-centric one. As such, it can steer your company miles ahead of your competitors since you're investing in the right technological tools and employee engagement activities.

Conclusion

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Expect a hybrid workplace to be part of your company's long-term strategy, even though adopting the model is not yet fully figured out. Everything considered, the pandemic did fast forward the inception of the hybrid model in workplaces.

But one thing is sure, the change in employee needs, company needs, and technology advancements have made the business model necessary. So embrace the hybrid concept or face the possibility of watching your business perish in the future.

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Discover how to Qarrot can help your organization transition to a hybrid model by keeping employees connected - book a demo with Qarrot today!

Enlisting brand ambassadors to promote one's products and services is an effective marketing method across industries. Its effectiveness has led more and more businesses to adopt it as a central tactic in their digital marketing strategy. Often, marketing teams turn to social media influencers to forward their brand. Statistics from SocialPubli show that 89% of marketers believe influencer marketing is effective, with many choosing to partner with nano- and micro-influencers. However, companies also have another option when it comes to brand ambassadorship — their own employees.

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What's an Employee Brand Ambassador?

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An employee brand ambassador is simply a person who currently works in your company and also promotes it across their network. An employee brand ambassador should know your company vision, the details of your products and services, and, of course, your brand image. To test the feasibility of an employee ambassadorship program, consult with your digital marketing team. As one of the most prominent careers in business data analytics, digital marketers analyze patterns in web traffic, determine the best posting strategies, and monitor search trends. They'll be the first to tell you that it's worth investing in employee brand ambassadors, especially since renowned companies like Adobe have been doing it for years. In short, having employee ambassadors is a good idea, and here's why:

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Benefits of Having Employee Brand Ambassadors

Consumers perceive employees as more trustworthy than curated marketing tactics

A survey by Olapic showed that 76% of respondents trusted content from "ordinary" people more than content distributed by big brands. Influencers have developed a reputation for having generic and inauthentic content, which might be counterproductive to the goal of your brand ambassadorship.

Additionally, customers tend to perceive staff as more trustworthy than corporate marketing, given that it's easier to relate with them on a personal level. In fact, Edelman's Trust Barometer 2019 states that people view regular employees as more credible than the company’s CEO. So having them spread good things about your company can make your marketing campaign more genuine and effective. It's also worth noting that employees who do not trust the company they work for can negatively impact consumer trust. So, even if your employee isn't officially a brand ambassador, it's worth keeping them engaged and satisfied with the company for the sake of its reputation and business.
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Your employees' social networks have a high potential for engagement

Your employees have their own networks, often outside of your company's normal target market. Surveys show that around 50% of employees already post content about their companies on their social media pages, with 33% unprompted by employers. Furthermore, 39% have shared positive attributes in the past. So, it's well worth having them raise brand awareness among their own circles. This is especially the case since your employees' social media connections are more likely to interact with their posts about your company, meaning there's more potential for engagement.

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Curating an employee ambassador program can lead to reduced costs and increased ROI

Since your employees are already part of the company workforce, you won't need to use more resources to partner with third-party brand ambassadors. This significantly reduces the costs of your marketing campaigns. And since employees are poised to spread brand awareness and increase your company's reach, they're likely to increase your ROI.

These reasons are why it's worth investing in employee brand ambassadors, and why you should incentivize practices that help them raise brand awareness. Your employees can do much more than execute and expedite internal processes. They're also an excellent option for your brand ambassadorship campaign.

To further entice them to enlist as employee brand ambassadors, make sure to implement incentives that spur them to achieve company goals and forward your company's marketing campaign. Note that monetary incentives are no longer as effective as they used to be, so be creative in how you craft your reward program. One option is to gamify the campaign goals, to make for a more enjoyable experience. This not only improves business performance, but employee engagement as well.

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If you're looking to create fun and engaging incentive campaigns for your employee brand ambassadors, try out Qarrot. Book a demo now to see your options!

Aaron Carr, the founder and CEO of Qarrot, had the pleasure to take part in a Q&A with Sourceforge - the place developers and companies go to access the latest software and business applications. Learn about the vision and motivation behind the creation of Qarrot, the benefits of greater employee experience and engagement and how the platform's features help organizations achieve these benefits.

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What type of software is Qarrot?

Qarrot is a cloud-based employee rewards and recognition software. With Qarrot, small to mid-sized organizations can implement recognition programs for their employees.

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Why target small to mid-sized businesses with Qarrot?

Great question. Historically, employee recognition vendors have offered their solutions to large enterprises with thousands of employees. These types of organizations typically purchase large volumes of rewards such as merchandise and gift cards, which has long been at the core of vendors’ business models. This has left smaller organizations – who don’t purchase large volumes of rewards –  without access to the sorts of recognition program capabilities available to large companies.

Accordingly, we felt it was important to create a product that could serve the needs of the small to mid-sized business. There are millions of SMEs globally and with our software-as-a-service business model, we can easily get them up and running on Qarrot at prices they can afford.

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What types of benefits can employers expect using Qarrot?

Employers increasingly face challenges recruiting, developing, and retaining talent. We see this across most industries and types of work. And while many employers have recruitment and training initiatives for their staff, many still lack the tools to keep their employees engaged over the long term. That’s where employee recognition programs can be a powerful asset for most organizations.

A well-managed recognition program helps employees feel more appreciated, reinforces positive behaviors, and motivates stronger performance. As a result, employees feel more engaged and are less likely to leave the organization voluntarily. Not to mention a host of other benefits: We’ve seen customers use recognition to improve sales performance, customer service, as well as employee well-being and health.

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How does Qarrot enable employers to achieve these benefits? What kinds of features does your software provide?

Qarrot is both feature-rich and easy to use. I always like to highlight this fact because ease-of-implementation and use are critical to the typical small to mid-sized business.

Qarrot helps organizations improve morale, celebrate important milestones, and motivate stronger performance. How do we do this?

It starts with the ability to encourage positive interactions amongst employees. With Qarrot both managers and employees can be enabled to recognize others for their contributions.

Often referred to as “peer-to-peer recognition”, this feature lets an employee send a message, a badge – often representing a company’s core value, as well as points to a coworker. Recognitions are displayed on a social media ‘news feed’ within the app so that all employees can learn about the recognitions of their peers, even liking or commenting on those posts.

Recognizing good performance is critical to helping employees feel valued and, by extension, improve morale. And with so many workers now doing their jobs remotely, it’s also a great way for teams to maintain a sense of connection and togetherness.

Organizations can also help celebrate important employee milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, and years of service with our milestone awards. This feature lets your program admin create automated awards that Qarrot will send to employees on the given milestone dates. These awards also are published to the social media feed, allowing others to celebrate a colleague having a birthday or important anniversary.

But, the feature that makes Qarrot “carrot” is award campaigns. This feature allows managers to motivate team performance and to align their staff around specific goals, KPIs, or tasks.

Campaigns are goal-based awards and can be used for everything from sales targets, customer service metrics, operational goals, to health and wellness challenges.

All recognitions and awards (milestone and campaign awards) can include badges that are custom-created by organizations’ program admins as well as points.

Badges are also a fun way for organizations to celebrate their culture as part of their recognition program. For example, most of our customers create a badge for each of their core values so that when an employee sends a recognition, she can choose the badge that represents the core value demonstrated by the person she’s recognizing.

And points can be redeemed for rewards! Qarrot not only offers a catalog with hundreds of leading brands in 30+ countries but customers can create their own custom rewards. These ‘company-provided’ rewards can be anything from a paid vacation day to company-branded merchandise, to local businesses not otherwise available in our platform.

In fact, most of our customers add a couple of custom rewards to their Qarrot catalog so that their employees have the choice of both the leading brands available as well as company-provided benefits.

Speaking of customization, customers can also easily customize their program using Qarrot. It’s easy to set your own point value, add your branding, as well as turn ‘on’ or ‘off’ certain features depending on what you want for your program.

Finally, I’d add that program admins also have access to data and reporting so that they can monitor employee participation and evaluate program effectiveness.

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That’s great, thanks. Tell us more about a typical customer and how they’d use these features to achieve their goals.

Sure. A typical customer has around 50-200 employees and, very often, only a small number of people in a human resources role.

Typically, they’re primarily focused on improving employee engagement and strengthening their culture. But they’re also interested in celebrating employee birthdays and anniversaries as well as equipping managers to boost team performance.

To achieve these goals, the customer would enable ‘Employee-to-Employee’ recognition and create badges based on each of their core values. This lets employees recognize one another for demonstrating the core values of the organization, which not only boosts engagement but reinforces organizational culture.

The customer could also enable employees or managers to include points when they send recognitions, to enhance the motivational effect of the program.

Plus, the customer can create Milestone Awards that automatically recognize employees on their birthdays and work anniversaries.

Finally, managers can create Award Campaigns when they want to challenge their team to hit tough-to-achieve goals, KPIs, or to complete certain tasks. Campaigns include a real-time leaderboard, so employees can see how they’re doing relative to their co-workers, which is a great way of injecting some fun competition into motivating performance.

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You mentioned that it’s easy to get started using Qarrot. How does a company get started?

Anyone wishing to learn more about Qarrot, can request a demo or free trial. And when they’re ready to move forward, they sign up for a ‘one-hour’ onboarding session during which one of our customer success leads will create their Qarrot account and train them on the administrative features of the software. At that point, the customer has a live account and the know-how to get started.

We also provide ongoing support, a knowledge base with lots of articles, as well as employee onboarding materials to simplify the onboarding process.

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And what types of pricing plans do you offer? Do customers need to sign a contract?

Our pricing is simple. Customers pay a subscription fee per user per month as well as the cost of any gift cards redeemed through their account. The subscription fee starts at $3 per employee, but we offer volume discounts for 200 employees or more as well as monthly and annual pricing options.

Customers on a monthly plan don’t need to sign a contract. However, for customers on an annual subscription, we’ll usually put our 2-page subscription pricing agreement in place.

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Finally, how can companies get in touch to learn more about Qarrot?

Easy; companies can either reach out to our sales team directly or visit Qarrot’s SourceForge profile page to request a demo or free trial.

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Read the full article on SourceForge.net

When you’re recognized for achieving a goal, it feels pretty good, doesn’t it? You feel supported, valued, and appreciated. Most importantly, you get that extra dose of encouragement and want to accomplish more.

Increasingly, leadership practices emphasize the role recognition plays in keeping employees engaged and working at their best. Despite this, many HR departments continue to struggle with how to justify investing in recognition programs for their people. Besides the business case, organizations aiming to adopt employee recognition need to figure out what kind of program or initiatives will best suit their objectives. And once decided, implement and communicate the program throughout the organization. We get it, it’s not a walk in the park. 

That’s why we’ve provided an overview of those practices and program features we believe drive the best results as well as a number of compelling statistics to power your business case.

At the end, we’ve also included a link to our own FREE business case template.

Traditional vs. ‘new wave’ employee recognition 

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The traditional idea of employee recognition may conjure up the classic ‘employee of the month’ - a manager recites the same speech and recognizes one of a handful of top performers each month. The broader team is often left uninspired, and the discussion of employee engagement is put on the back burner for another month. 

Traditional methods of rewards and recognition - which travels vertically through an organization - often lack inclusion and real motivation. Even worse, it risks coming across as forced, fake, or inauthentic. In order for recognition and rewards to be truly impactful for your organization, that narrative needs to change. Rather, a robust process that fosters a collective experience and leaves team members feeling both supported and empowered. 

Peer-to-peer recognition, while still a relatively new concept to the employee engagement world, is already making waves. It challenges the one-way, traditional sense of recognition and the idea that cash incentives are the only rewards that drive results. In fact, peer-to-peer is 35.7% more likely to have a positive financial influence than manager-only recognition.  We’ll dive deeper into peer-to-peer recognition shortly. ‍

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The cost and threat of poor employee engagement  

It can be difficult to pin down an exact ROI on the implementation of employee rewards and recognition programs given the variety of challenges faced by organizations. However, the influence employee appreciation has on issues like retention, loyalty, productivity, and work culture is indisputable. And the numbers don’t lie:

• 2.5x more revenue with employees who are highly engaged vs. those with low engagement 

• 2x annual net income than those companies who do not prioritize engagement 

• High performing companies were 37% more likely to use a recognition process to motivate employees 

• 74% of companies who have a recognition and reward process report a better work environment 

• 46% of managers consider employee recognition an asset, rather than an expense

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‍Specific selling features 

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So, your organization is interested in the idea of a recognition and rewards program and you’re leaning towards something innovative, easy, and fun. But, you’re not sure what program design to put forward with your business case. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of things and explore the specific features and the objectives they support:

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Drive results with objective-driven campaigns 

Recognition programs don’t just “motivate” employees - they inspire employees to hit specific targets or KPIs that support your organization’s strategic goals. How can you ensure that your program isn't generic? Opt for a program that allows you to craft tailor-made campaigns for both the broader organization as well as for specific teams. 

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With Qarrot, you can build campaigns around any measurable objective - such as leads closed or calls logged. When team members hit those objectives, you can award them with unique badges (also customizable) and points they can redeem for rewards. What more, they also come with gamification features to keep team members engaged and having fun. The more engaged and interested your team members are, the better results your recognition and rewards program will achieve. So, keep it fun!

Empower with peer-to-peer recognition 

As explored earlier, the traditional methods of recognition leave a lot to be desired. Instead of (or in addition to) a top-down approach, leaders should strive to create an environment where employees can motivate and inspire each other. This means you can improve workplace culture while simultaneously reinforcing the core values you want employees to exemplify. In other terms, you can help employees better identify and align with the organization - which is crucial for retaining talent. And the celebrations don’t have to stop there - it’s equally important to mark other occasions like birthdays and work anniversaries. When employees are engaged, their performance reflects that, compared to an unengaged team that often comes with a larger price tag in the long run. 

Lighten your load with program automation

All too often, we’ve heard from stressed out HR managers who are working overtime to stay on top of their company’s email and spreadsheet-based recognition and rewards program. Not only do manual programs like this drive many HR managers to the brink, but they’re also far less effective at driving results. This is especially true as organizations grow and the lack of structure wreaks havoc for managers, employees, and the HR department alike. Thankfully, now with the software-enabled programs of today that no longer has to be the case. Recognition software, like Qarrot, helps streamline and automate many of the program tasks like sending recognitions, tracking points, and distributing rewards. Program automation can literally reduce your administration effort by 75%.

Many programs, including Qarrot, also offer intuitive reporting so you can uncover just how engaged your employees are as well as monitor what types of incentives get the best results. 

Putting together your employee recognition business case

Even though recognition software like Qarrot makes it easy to measure results, we know it’s often difficult to estimate what those results will be when you’re at the business casing stage.

That’s why we’ve put together an easy-to-use and FREE business case template in Google Sheets. Download our template to put forward an ROI-based argument for employee recognition within your organization.

Get FREE Business Case Template

Remember when we all thought this health crisis would be over if everyone just isolated for 14 days? Reflecting upon our first pandemic anniversary, it feels as though this year has dragged on more than any other. If you had told us that social distancing, mask-wearing, and quarantining would become the new normal, we would have looked at you like you had two heads. Although we all know listening to public health regulations means we can get back to pre-covid life sooner rather than later, we’re all getting a bit fed up. 

Have you found yourself more anxious, depressed, or stressed lately? Have simple, everyday to-do lists transformed into seemingly impossible tasks? It’s called pandemic fatigue - it’s a real thing, and you’re not alone. 48% of Canadians report being fed up with following public health restrictions brought on by the pandemic, while 9/10 still say they’re doing their best to stay safe. We understand the importance of regulations, but they’re not without their consequences - which, to no surprise, have wreaked havoc on our mental health. In fact, 75% of employees in the United States have reported burnout symptoms since lockdown. 

The World Health Organization defines the phenomenon of pandemic fatigue as, “ ... demotivation to follow recommended protective behaviours, emerging gradually over time and affected by several emotions, experiences and perception.” Pandemic fatigue is an anticipated and normal response to such a prolonged public health crisis. The initial lockdown days of a perceived cheeky vacation, filled with banana bread and fancy whipped coffee, are long gone. 

Related Article: Overcoming remote employee burnout

Common symptoms of pandemic fatigue include : 

• Increased irritability and exhaustion
• Inability to focus or concentrate for extended periods, feeling overwhelmed easily 
• Feelings of depression and feeling lost
• Drop in communications with friends and family, or anyone outside your bubble 

Pandemic fatigue is hard enough to battle on a personal level, let alone on that of an organization. The lines that have traditionally divided our personal and professional lives - like commutes into a physical office - are almost nonexistent. In the workplace, pandemic fatigue can show itself in absenteeism, productivity, employee morale, and culture. And although your employees may say they’re doing just fine, it’s always better to proactivity address pandemic fatigue than wait until someone reaches out for help. 

Here are a few strategies to help stay on top of pandemic fatigue, and mitigate possible consequences of team members growing tired of this prolonged lockdown;

Establish a routine and stick with it 

I hate setting my morning alarm for 7:00 am as much as the next person, but following a schedule is paramount for keeping the pandemic fatigue ‘scaries’ away. Our bodies actually prefer routine and thrive when we prioritize waking up and falling asleep at set times. When we lack routine or any sort of schedule, we quickly lose track of time - and all of a sudden a whole day is over (I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s found themselves still wearing pyjamas by the end of the workday...right?). Everyone feels better about themselves when they’re productive - whether that’s committing to waking up early, getting in a workout during lunch, or going for a socially distant walk with a friend in the evening. Some days can be harder than others, but sticking to a routine (one that ideally involves changing out of your pyjamas) will prove beneficial. 

Related Article: Do your remote employees feel looked after?

Adopt stress relief practices 

One of the worst and most widespread side effects of this pandemic has been lingering stress and anxiety. Just because this sentiment may be a collective experience, however, doesn’t invalidate those feelings. We’re all stressed for one reason or another, and adding a pandemic to the mix - well, who wouldn’t be overwhelmed? There are a variety of techniques you can try - such as deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness. If you’re a leader, consider encouraging employees to have a designated break in the day allocated solely for addressing stress. Carving out time for team members to recenter and refocus their energy means improving employee wellbeing while simultaneously destressing from our pandemic reality. 

Keep your eyes open for signs of burnout and exhaustion

Leaders should always be vigilant for symptoms of employee burnout, but especially so during a worldwide health crisis. While some like to glamorize the idea of constantly “hustling”, working and improving, burnout is not an achievement to be ogled. Exhaustion can happen to anyone in your organization, and working through a pandemic makes everyone particularly susceptible.  Educate yourself and your team on the signs associated with burnout. While it can be hard to prevent and identify burnout, with many of us now working remotely, your best bet is to be knowledgeable and proactive. If team members seem disengaged, distracted, or unable to focus, it might be time to check-in. 

Workplace culture and employee morale can be amongst the first casualties if pandemic fatigue strikes your team. Discover how peer recognition can give your employee engagement strategy that extra boost - request a demo with Qarrot!

We’re all familiar with the idea that it only takes a few rotten eggs to spoil the bunch. While some of this saying rings true, it doesn’t paint a complete picture. Shouldn’t a company have safeguards in place to identify and address these “bad eggs”? Why are their behaviours tolerated? Who is responsible for stopping undesirable attitudes in their tracks? 

It can be easy to blame poor company culture on a few individuals who don’t really care about being part of a team. In reality, however, it’s the responsibility of organizational leaders’ to keep those rotten eggs at bay. If left unaddressed, harmful workplace habits and attitudes can wreak havoc on your organizations’ culture. 

The importance of workplace culture 

Culture plays a crucial role in the overall success of a company. From retaining top talent to keeping employees engaged and motivated, fostering a favourable ecosystem where team members can thrive is pivotal. Some might argue that your workplace culture is something that grows organically and cannot be forced - but it’s that same laissez-faire attitude that allows toxic culture to brew. Don’t be fooled - the best cultures that appear organic have a considerable amount of thought and strategy supporting them. 

What are the risks associated with toxic work culture? 

• Low employee morale, trust, and poor relationships 
• Dismal employee experience translating into a sad customer experience  
• High turnover rate, signalling issues to external audiences and shareholders 
• Additional costs associated with unmotivated employees (time, money, and resources)

Related Article: How to keep your startup culture thriving 

Sources of toxic workplace culture 

Poor internal communications 

One of the most important factors when creating an optimal workplace culture is prioritizing internal communications. If you want to create an environment where team members feel empowered and supported, communication is vital. Trust and transparency are paramount in healthy workplace culture. If not, employees won’t feel comfortable discussing potential concerns or issues with leaders - leaving the perfect window of opportunity for toxicity to run wild. If you find contact with your team members stressful, forced, or just unpleasant, take a step back and evaluate your current strategy. 

Nonexistent employee engagement 

How can you expect employees to be interested in a company if that interest isn’t reciprocated? If employees don’t feel valued for their work, it won’t be long before they start looking for an employer who does. The small rumblings of low engagement can start with absenteeism, lack of morale, or poor performance. None of this translates to a great environment, and things will only escalate from there. However, engaging with employees is a great way to keep people interested in doing well while simultaneously nurturing a healthy work culture. Not sure how to create an engagement strategy? Employee rewards and recognition programs are a great place to start. When team members feel appreciated, that positivity will resonate culturally. 

Related Article: Strengthening core values through company culture 

Questionable management and leadership 

Whether or not you like being the center of attention, if you’re a leader, you have to set the standard for employee expectations. Just because you’re the ‘big cheese’ doesn’t make you an exemption. It’s a slippery slope - if employees see you slacking off or getting away with the bare minimum, they will follow suit. Management must embody the behaviours and attitudes they want from employees. Micromanagement is also a classic toxic culture trait. There is nothing worse than feeling scrutinized continuously, almost like being under a microscope. To get the most out of your employees, foster a culture that encourages a collective experience and expectations while building team members’ confidence in their respective roles.  

Foggy mission, vision, and values 

You wouldn’t go on a road trip without a roadmap, right? The same rule applies to any business activity without considering your mission, vision, and values.  Workplace culture is no exception, as these lay the foundation for setting your team and organization up for success. When these three considerations are unclear or not appropriately communicated, work culture is often a casualty. If employees don’t know where they fit into the mission, vision, and values, how can you expect them to be motivated? Rather than feeling like cogs in a machine, employees want to feel like an integral part of your team and the organization’s success. When everyone knows where they fit within an organization’s trajectory, workplace culture becomes cohesive and inclusive. 

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Another great way to create an empowering and supportive culture for employees is through positive reinforcement. Discover how fostering a recognition-rich environment can take your culture to new heights - request a demo with Qarrot!  

Organizations introduce employee recognition and reward programs with the best of intentions. Not only does celebrating employee achievements improve engagement and motivation, but simultaneously strengthen other areas such as culture and retention. In fact, recognition has been proven to contribute to higher employee engagement, performance, and to help boost other positive behaviors. 

We know that recognizing victories both big and small can drive organizational success. So why are so many teams still feeling less than jazzed about their work? It’s a problem that comes with a hefty price tag - to the tune of $500 billion dollars annually, actually. Uninspired employees can leave with you with high turnover, poor workplace morale, and cost you in time, money, and resources. 

Related Article: Benefits of positive reinforcement in the workplace 

So, implement any old recognition program and wait for the benefits to roll in - right? 

Not exactly. In order to see the best results, there needs to be a conscious effort to align your recognition process with your team and organizational goals, specifically. If employee engagement and performance remain at a standstill, this may be an indication that you have a lackluster recognition program.

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While every program will vary slightly, here are some common culprits that may leave your team wanting more : 

Not approaching employee recognition holistically 

Let’s move away from the traditional notion that recognition can only travel from management downward. Peer recognition can be just as powerful! Encouraging positive interactions between employees at all levels improves transparency, relationships, and culture. This also means that your team has more to celebrate - like work anniversary milestones and birthdays. 

Inclusion is now more important than ever since remote work has become the new norm. A company-wide recognition program streamlines internal communications by bringing team members together and keeping everyone on the same page. We all know that staying connected has been a challenge this last year, and a full-circle recognition program is an effective way you can bridge the gap.  

Not letting people choose their own rewards

We’ve all been there - unwrapping a present someone gave you and pretending to love it. They’re sitting right next to you and you don’t want to hurt their feelings, but you're also mystified as to their thought process behind the gift (which will never see the light of day). 

Employee rewards aren’t that different. People are motivated by different things, and there’s nothing particularly inspiring about the same cookie-cutter rewards for every employee and every milestone. Opting for a program that allows employees to choose from a selection of rewards or prizes adds an extra personalized touch that will leave your employees feeling even more valued. Not only does this enable you to truly discover what motivates different team members, it also allows you to keep a pulse on employee engagement in real time. 

Related Article: Customize your rewards and recognition program with Qarrot 

Doesn’t support or reflect your team's unique needs

The ultimate goal of any recognition program is to drive both employee and organizational success. Keyword here, ‘success’ - which looks different to every employee, team, manager, and company. Is your current recognition program effectively taking those measures of success into account? To truly make waves, recognition programs should be customizable. This can be anything from integrating your branding into the recognition platform to launching incentive campaigns based on specific team performance metrics. However you choose to use a recognition program, ensure it can accurately capture your specific needs and goals. A good rule of thumb is to relate how the program feeds into your mission, vision, and values. If they’re in sync, you’re on the right track. 

...it just isn’t that fun 

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Employees are only going to be responsive with a recognition program if they enjoy using it. Getting employees excited about celebrating each other doesn’t have to be complicated either. Ever thought about exploring gamification? Something as simple as a points based system - where employees receive points alongside recognitions to redeem for rewards - can easily raise the stakes. Although adding gamification features will instigate friendly competition, everyone comes out a winner. Employees will feel supported and empowered by their peers while managers will reap the benefits of a motivated team. Ironically, fun and games are a serious solution to an uninspiring recognition process.

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Related Article: Spice up your employee engagement with gamification

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To improve the effectiveness of employee recognition programs, companies can take the following steps:

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Define Clear Objectives and Metrics

Companies should define clear objectives for their recognition programs, such as improving employee engagement or increasing sales performance, and develop metrics to measure their success. This will help ensure that the program is aligned with the company's overall strategy and values.

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Involve Employees in Program Design

Companies should involve employees in the design of their recognition programs, gathering feedback on what types of recognition they find most meaningful and what behaviors and accomplishments should be recognized.

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Make Recognition Personal and Timely

Recognition should be personalized to the individual and delivered in a timely manner. This means that recognition should be specific to the employee's accomplishments and delivered as close to the time of the accomplishment as possible.

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Provide a Variety of Recognition Options

Companies should provide a variety of recognition options to meet the diverse needs and preferences of employees. This could include verbal recognition, public recognition, monetary rewards, or time off.

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Train Managers on Effective Recognition

Managers should be trained on effective recognition techniques, such as providing specific and timely feedback and delivering recognition in a personalized manner. This will ensure that recognition is consistent and aligned with the company's objectives.

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Regularly Evaluate and Adjust the Program

Companies should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of their recognition program and make adjustments as needed. This will help ensure that the program continues to meet the needs of employees and achieve the company's objectives.

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Related Article: Building a business case for employee recognition

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Here are some examples of companies that have implemented effective employee recognition programs:

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Salesforce

Salesforce has a recognition program called "The Power of Us" that allows employees to recognize their peers for their accomplishments. The program includes both public recognition and monetary rewards, and employees can earn badges for their achievements.

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Cisco

Cisco has a recognition program called "Connected Recognition" that allows employees to recognize their peers for their accomplishments using a mobile app. The program includes both monetary rewards and non-monetary rewards, such as extra vacation days or access to training and development programs.

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Google

Google has a recognition program called "gThanks" that allows employees to send thank-you notes to their colleagues. The notes are delivered both publicly and privately, and employees can earn points for their participation that can be redeemed for rewards.

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Don’t be caught empty handed - a recognition and rewards program is one of the most powerful tools a leader can wield when it comes to employee engagement. Uncover how your team can benefit by fostering a recognition rich environment with Qarrot - book a demo today!

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