Over a third (38%) of the businesses surveyed offer rewards specifically to high performing employees, such as ‘staff member of the month’, whereas nearly a quarter (23%) make rewards available to all employees with 21% focusing their company’s benefits structure on long-standing members of staff.

Nine in ten employees stated that they had received a reward from their employer with half of these saying that it made them feel valued, with a further 44% saying that they felt their hard work and dedication was being recognised.

Jose Carvalho, senior vice-president at American Express said: ‘SMEs are reaping the benefits of actively showing employees appreciation for their hard work. A simple thank you goes a long way and will not only make employees feel good, but will benefit a business in the process.’

Tips for employers:

• when going through the process of employing new members of staff, highlight how rewards are available to employees. This will be seen as an added benefit to prospective staff members and may encourage more talent into your business;
• when you present a reward to an employee, be sure to also personally congratulate them. While the gift will be appreciated, often it’s the personal conversation which lasts longer in people’s memory;
• identifying the right opportunity to present a reward to employees is important and end-of-year presentations are a great moment to do so. This enables you to highlight what success looks like and the employee will receive recognition from the rest of the company too; and
• listening to your employees is essential and often overlooked. Speak to them regularly to understand if there is a certain reward which they would benefit from the most. This not only allows them to input into the rewards system, but if they have expressed a desire for a specific reward, knowing it is available to them could enhance their motivation to work even harder to achieve it.