How Can We Creatively Reward Employees Who Go the Extra Mile with Interviews and Training?

We are seeking to reward our employees who, apart from their direct key responsibility areas, assist in taking interviews and trainings. Kindly provide your inputs on what are the different ways we can use to reward such employees in both monetary and non-monetary ways.

Thanks in advance, and hoping to see some great thinking!

I wish to recommend these two articles:

[Best Employee Perks: Fringe Benefits That Make A Big Difference](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/best-employee-perks_n_3232635.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003#sli de=2422788)

[Tech Firms Offering More Perks To Recruit, Retain Talent](#slide=more275411)

Thank you.

Dear StriveTitans, you want members of this forum to do some "great thinking" for you. But then in return, are you not expected to do some "small thinking" by way of disclosure of your name, designation, your industry, and why you are asking this query, etc.?

Handling Primary and Secondary Duties

Now coming to solving your query. I have a different take here. In big companies, employees are expected to handle their "primary" duties, which cover about 80% of their time, and "secondary" duties, which cover about 20% of their time. Primary and secondary duties both go hand in hand. It is mentioned clearly in their appointment letter.

Secondary duties include members of various committees (like the sexual harassment committee), conducting internal audits of another department, inquiring into matters of indiscipline in another department, etc.

Concerns About Paying for Secondary Duties

If you start paying for doing some secondary duties, then other employees will also start asking for pecuniary benefits. This culture of remuneration for everything will start eroding the importance of the work. An employee should never work keeping an eye on the returns. This may foster disgruntlement like "he/she got more than me"!

In the future, by chance, if some person puts forth an innovative idea because of which, suppose your company saves millions, does it mean that you should share part of the savings with that employee? If yes, then what percentage?

When employees spend time for the company, they receive remuneration for that. There could be some difference in the quantum of work. The concept of "additional payment" is applicable to the lowest rung of jobs like helpers, maids, etc., and not to white-collar employees. Moreover, conducting training or interviewing job candidates does not merit any extra payment.

Recognition of Secondary Duties

In some central government organizations, "secondary duties" even find a place in their Annual Confidential Report (ACR). Some marks are reserved for the quality of the work done in secondary duties.

However, I do not mean to say that you should not acknowledge the extra burden that the employees volunteer to take. Give them some memento at a town hall meeting, nominate them for some training, put up a notice on the notice board or in an office circular, etc.

These are my views. Other senior members may provide their views as well.

Ok...

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

I echo Dinesh's sentiment. Sharing what has already been tried, yet didn't work, would help us brainstorm and not reinvent the wheel. Every compensation program requires work addressing the most sensitive needs of the employees. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Dear Folks,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

@(Cite Contribution) - Thanks, in particular, for the articles. They were a good read, especially for understanding the different perks given in the current scenario.

@Dinesh - Further to the "small thinking," I seek advice on behalf of a mid-size firm that operates predominantly in the Software Testing domain. As the one in charge of HR & Operations, this being my first stint in this role, I seek to broaden my horizon of thought with professionals who have been seasoned in the HR field.

Specific Considerations

Also, some things that I'd like to bring to your specific notice:

• Our company is in its expansion stage, having recently migrated from a small to a mid-size firm.

• Our compensation does not fall into the cream paymasters' compensation of this region.

Our focus is primarily on the non-monetary aspects like a gift voucher or a good buffet lunch, but we want to keep our options open to retain and reward in different ways. Hence, I wanted the views of senior members like you and others.

Thanks a bunch again for your time and thoughts on the same!

Regards,
Ann Thomas

You have identified a gift voucher; try incorporating a little bit of gaming around it. Design points for the voucher and introduce gifts that can be won in exchange for the points. For example, suppose 5000 points can be redeemed for an iPod and 100 points for a West Side gift voucher. Place this entire incentive program on your intranet so that employees have a full view of what awaits them. Address any questions they may have through team hurdles and town halls.

While this may require some effort, it will be much more engaging and transparent. Here's an article on gaming rewards; try to consider what they have implemented: [Gamify Compensation](http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130521201122-1368707-the-performance-game-are-you-ready-to-gamify-compensations).

I request Dinesh and our other members to share their thoughts on how to overcome the bottlenecks.

Thank you.