Why you shouldn't overlook the importance of rewarding your team

If you’re a founder of a growing start-up, you’ll be growing your team but probably keeping an eye on cash flow, too.

During lean periods, it’s vital that you don’t overlook the importance of rewarding your team. Earlier this year, we surveyed 2,000 UK workers with the help of YouGov and found that being appreciated is the number-one motivator for British employees. Recognising good work is a quick win for employers trying to empower and stimulate their teams.

But how do you show your team gratitude if you’re not in the position to give your team members a raise or a bonus? Read on!

Sharing is caring

One of the most impactful ways of rewarding your team is to set up a share scheme. Our YouGov poll showed us that one in three job hunters are actively looking for roles that offer share schemes like EMI (Enterprise Management Incentives – the UK’s favourite share scheme).

Employees love share schemes because they demonstrate respect from management. They also offer employees a long-term financial reward, whether you decide to give them an annual dividend or whether you decide that they’ll get their payout when your company sells. Because of this, your team will feel more engaged in the successes of your business.

The best bit is that it is relatively cheap to set a scheme up, and they are tax-efficient, too. Another reason why share schemes are all round winners.

Cost-effective training

One of the best ways to reward people is to invest in their future by allowing them the space, time and (if possible) budget for personal growth.

You might want to start by asking team members what training they’d like to do. It might not be possible to fulfil their wishlist if their requested training comes with a premium price tag, but there are always cost-effective options on offer.

If you have a HR suite, you might already have a world of training videos at your fingertips. There’s also Linkedin Learning for a range of business courses, or FutureLearn if they’d like something a little more academic. There’s so much out there, even for budget-conscious organisations.

Wellbeing programmes

Similarly, you need to give some thought to wellbeing. In our survey, we asked whether people would rather have a bigger salary, or whether they’d prefer to work for a company that has an excellent reputation for wellbeing. Incredibly, 65% of people were unequivocal in choosing wellbeing over cash.

It wouldn’t be costly to get your wellbeing programme up and running. At Vestd, we ask the team to let us know what sort of wellbeing courses they would benefit from and on the back of that, book experts to come in to deliver workshops on sleep, stress, nutrition, etc.

Wellbeing is something that should permeate through a healthy organisation. Have strong diversity and anti-bullying policies, encourage group activities and make sure nobody is put in a position to feel overworked, overwhelmed or isolated. Sometimes, being proactive in this regard can be as simple as making sure that everybody takes their full lunch hour.

Enhanced flexibility

If British employees were to choose one job over another, we found that a whopping 66% would choose the job that offered the greater flexibility.

This is something that every company should offer and clearly, there’s no cost involved. If employees are encouraged to set their own schedules or to work remotely, they’ll know that they are trusted and valued by the organisation.

By allowing people the freedom to organise their own lives, you’ll be enabling them to establish a great work/life balance.

Top employers know that by supporting employees to live their best lives, they’ll also work their best lives too.

Get the team together for downtime

As a fully remote company, Vestd has a team retreat every quarter. Since lockdown, this has been a virtual event. Here’s Vestd’s HR Advisor, Emily Williams, talking about our last one:

“Our virtual retreats are an opportunity to take time out collectively and to focus on our company values.

“For our last retreat, we set aside one day to ‘regroup’. As a team, we learned about the purpose of the company, where we have been and where we are going so individual efforts can align with the overall goals of the organisation.

“We then followed this focus session with activities together: exercise, an in-house game, a virtual escape room and a group takeaway! The activities were designed with all our personalities in mind, giving everyone a chance to step outside their comfort zone along with playing to strengths.”

These sorts of team-building activities don’t have to break the bank. By using a bit of ingenuity and taking advantage of the resources available to you, you can create a quality and meaningful experience for all the team.