Survey your staff on recognition and rewards

If you want to know what your team would like when it comes to recognition and rewards, ask them.

You can easily do this with a survey

Not only will they give you feedback you can use, they’ll feel like they’ve helped you find a good solution.

Here’s a rough guide on how to do it.

Before you do anything, ask your HR team for advice on what’s okay to put in your survey.

Think of what you want to ask.

And don’t make the survey long or your staff won’t do it.

If you have a large team, let your staff know their answers are anonymous.

If you have a small team, let your staff know you’ll keep their answers strictly confidential.

Here’s some sample questions to get you started.

One a scale of 1 to 5, how well do you feel your work is recognised by me as your manager?
One a scale of 1 to 5, how well do you feel your team celebrates each other’s successes in the workplace?
Tell me how you’d like the organisation to reward your efforts in the workplace?

Send out your survey in the morning towards the start of the week. Not on a Friday afternoon.

This will improve your chances people will do it.

Give people enough time to do it. Don’t say ‘this is due tomorrow’.

It’s also a great idea to send a reminder before the survey’s closing date and give regular reminders at meetings.

Remove any identifying information from results.

Group similar themes and responses.

Write up a list of actions you can present to your team as a result of the survey.

Any actions you come up with must comply with your organisation’s policies and the Code of Conduct.

It’s a good idea to check your list with your HR team first.

Set up a time to present the results to your team. This shows you’re committed to listening to what your staff have said.

Give them clear timelines of when you’ll act on what you’ve found out.

You may need to explain to your team what ideas can and can’t be done, based on your organisation’s policies and the Code of Conduct

Stick to your commitments.

If you don’t, your staff may lose faith in being able to rely on you as someone that can help with their issues.