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EMPOYEE RECOGNITION IDEAS THAT HELP RETAIN YOUR CHEFS AND WAITERS.

The catering and hospitality industry ask’s a lot of its employees. It’s also one of the most creative and regulated business sectors, so keeping staff motivated and committed to the long unsociable physical hours is very important.

The world of employee motivation is different than you might think.

Each one of your people is different, and, subsequently, values different things. Employee motivation is a personal thing and building work motivation and employee morale can be done through an expert blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. The net result is a much improved relationship between owner/manager and employee. Integration, participation and sense of value dramatically increase resulting in a broader sense of commitment and service longevity.

Caterquip UK has a Tangible Reward scheme based on performance, profitability and problem solving. This involves rewarding staff with BBX virtual money. This is bartering scheme in which goods and services can be exchanged for BBX tokens. It has proven very popular with staff.  Caterquip sells equipment via the BBX platform, therefore the MD will often treat staff to away days or events such as concerts & paint balling.

Remember that time you found some crumpled up bank notes in that old jacket in the back of the wardrobe? Or how about the time you got a birthday card from Aunt Louise out of the blue with a couple of cold, hard £fivers tucked inside?

Getting cash is great, and no one would complain about a few extra pound notes in their wallet.

But what, exactly, did you buy with that extra money?

Chances are, you don’t remember.

A cup of coffee here. A sandwich there. A tank of petrol and—poof! That’s the end of it.

When people get a monetary reward from your incentive program, it has a tendency to disappear in the same unremarkable way. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a time and a place for monetary incentives, but to have a strong impact these days, you can’t expect cash to cut it—tangible rewards are key.

What Are Tangible Rewards?

OK, cash technically is a tangible reward, as you can pick it up and touch it. But, for a number of good reasons, your boss probably isn’t dropping a stack of cash on your desk.

By definition, tangible rewards are any items of experiential rewards (SEE ARTICLE BELOW) given as a result of an employee’s performance in an incentive program that can easily be assigned a monetary value.

In general terms, tangible rewards are things or experiences, where monetary rewards are compensation.

In a perfect world, a £500 TV is equivalent to £500 cash reward. So why don’t participants see it that way? And why make the switch at all?

Why Transition From Cash to Tangible Rewards?

Just like you don’t remember where you spent that birthday money, people don’t pay much attention to where they spent the cash earned in an incentive program.

Since that cash typically gets lumped in with a participant’s pay cheque, it’s effectively identical to their regular compensation. Their reward can vanish quickly, between regular household goods, gas, food and other short-lived purchases.

Tangible rewards, however, are different. They are central to your people connecting their achievement with your brand.

One size doesn’t fit all anymore.

EXPERINTIAL REWARDS.

Smart companies know the importance of employee recognition and engagement as evidenced by the companies with programs in place. While many of these programs have been around for years—maybe even decades—organizations should ask themselves, “Is our program getting stale or accomplishing our goals?”

For organisations looking to freshen up their program, or create something brand new, consider these ideas for designing a winning employee recognition program.

1. Harness Emotional Energy

First, tap into your employee’s emotional energy. This may sound hard to do at first blush, but it’s really about meeting people’s basic need of having a sense of belonging or a desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Okay, that does sound hard. But at its basis, it’s about employee engagement and the emotional affinity employees feel for a company. Here are some ideas on how managers can nurture those feelings by starting with a solid foundation for your recognition program.

1. Make sure employees feel valued.No one wants to feel like their opinion doesn’t matter. Give people a voice; help them feel connected to the organization which in turn enhances morale and retention.
2. Encourage stress management.Understand workload levels, deadlines and personal situations your employees are working through. Be supportive, offer solutions to overcome barriers and lend a hand where appropriate.
3. Provide autonomy.Scientific studies have proven that people thrive when given autonomy at work. While it doesn’t mean giving free rein, it does mean offering your employees latitude in decision-making responsibility in the projects they’re working on.
4. Monitor team mood. Goldsmiths University psychologist suggests a focus on good moods as a performance booster. This doesn’t mean ignoring negative emotions, but rather integrating both positive and negative emotions with a positive outlook as you either solve problems conveyed by dissatisfaction or leverage opportunities uncovered by having an open mind.
5. Be kind. Always say please and thank you.Asking employees, rather than telling them to do something, builds on autonomy and a sense of trust. And thanking someone for doing good work, making a deadline or achieving a sales goal is good business. Yep. Your mother was right on this one.

“We’ve never thought that you should have to come to work and assume a mask and look like you’re a bunch of little lead soldiers stamped out of a mould. We give people license to be themselves.”

— Herb Kelleher, Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines

2. Communicate Regularly

Refreshing an existing employee recognition program, or starting a new one, naturally creates a lot of buzz and excitement around the office. Clarity in messaging is key because if people don’t understand what the program is all about and how it aligns with corporate values and priorities, you are wasting your investment and missing out on an opportunity to enhance morale and retention. Even “a mediocre program well communicated is more useful than a great program poorly communicated.”

1. Be clear.Employees need to understand how they’ll be recognized—and how they can recognize their co-workers. Talk about the selection process and “what’s in it for me” to keep the program foremost in your employee’s minds.
2. Don’t overlook the old standbys.Use email, voice mail, brochures, flyers, posters and intranet notices. It’s pretty hard to over communicate when trying to get the attention of busy employees. Use multiple mediums to get the word out.
3. Offer recognition ideas.In your communications, you should also provide ideas on ways to give and receive recognition. Align ideas with your corporate values. If “teamwork” is one of them, you might define this recognition opportunity like this: “Nothing gets done unless we work together with a positive, professional attitude.”
4. Talk to employees.Seems simple, but an intentional conversation with employees about how they think the program is going can be very insightful. What do they like best about it? What’s standing in the way of getting on board? How can it be made better? If the answers are solid, you’ve gained a perspective to make it better that you might not otherwise have had.
5. Personalize it. Even in today’s hyper technology-driven world, a hand-written note recognizing a specific achievement goes a long way. Be sure to make it timely, describe what the employee did and why it was important to the organization. Besides the note, consider further acknowledgement in either one-to-one conversations, or department or company-wide meetings. Consider the employee’s personality and what public recognition is most appropriate.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

— George Bernard Shaw

3. Support With Technology

Nothing will stymie recognition program design like manual processes or a poor technology platform. Giving and receiving recognition can’t be hard—and it can’t be a mystery. You need to think about the demographics of your employee base, too. Are you a start up company employing mostly millennials or a financial services company with a multi-generational workforce? Will you need to do training or is the technology intuitive?

1. Make your platform easy-to-use.Don’t expect anyone to read a manual on how to use the new program. All tools should be self-explanatory, or worst case, make it extremely easy to access an explanatory video.”
2. Use it to measure it. Metrics can include participation rates according to how many recognitions are given and received, allocated rewards budgets used, awards redeemed, etc. When measuring employee performance itself, take a reasonable approach and measure things your employees directly influence.
3. Provide instant appreciation.As we mentioned earlier, acknowledging people for specific achievements in a timely manner is important in keeping employee momentum going. Technology systems take manual processes off the table and enables people to thank or complement one another for their work successes easily.
4. Care for employee interaction.A collaborative recognition platform is a good way for employees to interact with one another while giving managers a quick way to stay connected to their team with a simple comment or thumbs up for great work. Creating ways for people to feel a sense of belonging is enhanced with technology that keeps the human element in mind.

“Technology is best when it brings people together.”

– Matt Mullenweg, Online social media entrepreneur

4. Reinforce With Memory Makers

In The Power of Moments, the New York Times bestselling authors ask, “Why would we leave our most meaningful, memorable moments to chance when we can create them?” What if a manager knew how to create an experience that would delight employees? Reinforcing desired behaviours should contain a strong dose of making great memories your employees will remember for years to come. And it’s good business to do so. It’s interesting to note that Facilities Managers found the “presence of reward programs resulted in an average 22% gain in performance (as compared to organizations offering no reward program).”

Verbal and written recognition are impactful, but incorporating rewards as well to reinforce certain behaviours can have even more positive effect in getting the best work from your team. Some best practices include:

1. Offer each team member a budget. Most companies operate on tight budgets, and the idea of giving each team member a budget to use in recognizing their colleagues feels like a pretty big expense. But the return in participation in the program and the building of goodwill towards the company pays off in higher morale and retention.
2. Provide multiple earning opportunities.When employees have multiple earning opportunities to pool points, they tend to stay engaged over a longer period of time as they strive for a bigger reward.
3. Give team members the power of choice.Each person wants something different as acknowledgement for a job well done. Therefore it makes sense then to enlist an online awards platform for employees to choose their own reward.
4. Select meaningful rewards. Depending upon the situation, consider a specific reward for your outstanding employee like a travel experience where they can build relationships with other top performers and key management.

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”

― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Author

Employee recognition begins with connection. Talk with your employees, treat them with respect and deliver on the promises your organisation has made for them. Remember, as long as you care about your employees, it’s never too late to reenergise an existing recognition program or start a new one. Why wait, and don’t forget to commend every effort and say thanks.

Finding Job Opportunities in Catering

For those looking to enter or advance in the catering and hospitality industry, there are a variety of roles available, from chefs and kitchen assistants to front-of-house staff and event coordinators.

Many job platforms make it easier to find the right position, whether you’re seeking a full-time career or a flexible part-time role. For instance, platforms like Jooble offer a vast selection of job opportunities within the catering sector, helping candidates connect with employers looking for skilled professionals.