Employee appreciation is a great way to keep your staff motivated and elevate your employer branding. You can reward them with cash bonuses and other monetary compensation types. However, this isn’t the only way to appreciate your workforce.

Non-monetary incentives are innovative ways to reward your employees outside the standard benefits and financial compensation. Just like monetary incentives, these incentives show that you care about employee growth and well-being.

This article highlights three non-monetary incentive options you can implement in your company for an enhanced employee experience.  

non-monetary incentives
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1. Flexible work arrangements

One of the best-loved non-monetary incentives is flexible working. More than 40% of employees agree that flexible working arrangements improved their outlook on the entire company culture. Around 71% of flexible workers consider their team more innovative than teams that don’t implement flexible work options.

Flexible working arrangements don’t just involve allowing employees to work remotely or from home. It also means allowing employees to choose where to work and how to plan their work hours. This gives them time to take care of their personal life.

Take Eventbrite as an example. Eventbrite allows staff members to work remotely or even partially on-site. For this last one, the company has multiple locations across the globe for employees who prefer to work in a designated office space.

Besides offering hybrid working, you may also want to give your employees the flexibility to plan their own working hours. For example, you could specify a few common hours all employees should be available for work for collaboration purposes, and then they can choose the rest of the working hours for themselves. This is a win-win situation. You can ensure your team generates all the necessary deliverables on time without compromising their freedom to decide when and how they want to work. 

Offering flexible hours to your staff will boost employee morale and productivity while boosting employer branding. It will also enable you to attract and retain employees, build employee loyalty, and greatly reduce recruitment costs.

2. Professional development opportunities

It’s essential to show employees your commitment to helping them get better at their jobs. Allowing them to upskill and reskill every so often is a great way to appreciate their contribution to your company’s growth while boosting employee job satisfaction. 

Professional development is a powerful motivator for employees. When choosing an employer, 49% of candidates consider professional development an essential or deal-breaking factor. Therefore, give your workers the chance to grow their knowledge base and boost their competitive advantage in the job market.

You can contribute to employee professional development by giving them days off to attend workshops that align with their desired knowledge. You could also create different online courses and post them on your various community platforms to allow your staff to learn on their own time. 

Remember to keep improving employee training programs over time to align with industry trends and tech advancement. For instance, Trustona offers free training for employees as part of the onboarding process. The company keeps updating new courses, which employees can access while working there.

If you’re working with a low budget, consider peer mentorship programs that allow employees to learn from each other. Peer mentorship is also an effective way to boost strong relationships and a sense of community among your staff.  

For example, you could have the head of your marketing team mentor one or two junior team members. Not only will this accelerate the junior team members’ career growth, but it will also boost the chemistry of the entire team.

These mentorship programs can also work across departments. For instance, if a staff member from a particular department has expressed interest in a different role, someone from that department could take them up for mentorship.

If a staff member would like some time off to pursue an additional course, give them the flexibility to work as they study. Alert the rest of the team about it and encourage them to assist the employee. Give them the extra time they need if necessary.

You may not be offering the employee’s desired course, but you’re already showing your support for their professional growth and development by accommodating them.

3. Provide employees with wellness solutions

These are one of the most important non-monetary rewards you can give your employees: wellness solutions. There’s no doubt that wellness contributes to employee productivity and output at work. Therefore, your workforce’s mental, emotional, and physical health should be a key consideration. 

While some modern offices have an on-site gym, most don’t. If you’re part of the majority, you can instead incorporate physical wellness routines into your individual employees’ work week by offering a gym membership package as a benefit. 

Grant them the option to choose between various exercise options like Zumba, dance classes, or working with a fitness trainer. Encourage them to post their progress online and tag you. This is a great way to, not just motivate other employees to take on the challenge, but also to gain social media likes and even followers for your brand.

Consider reimbursing your workers for their fitness subscriptions and giving employee discounts to encourage them to prioritize their health. You could also stock the office with healthy snacks and meal options to ensure they eat better as they go about their work schedules. 

For example, Google offers lots of free fruit and healthy snacks to its employees in most of its offices.

Employee retreats are another great idea for boosting employee wellness. During this time, ensure your program includes team-building games and other physically engaging activities. This will help your team enjoy time away from work while bonding with their workmates and creating lasting employee relationships.

Finally, you can engage the services of a qualified counselor to be available at your employees’ request. This will allow them to express themselves whenever they’re feeling stressed or have mental health issues. Don’t forget to incorporate mental health and wellness into the health insurance packages you offer them as well.

In closing

Non-monetary incentives are innovative ways to reward your employees. But just like monetary incentives, they’re a great way to keep employees happy. After all, with these incentives, you also show you care about their personal growth and well-being. 

Flexible working arrangements ensure your employees can choose where and how to plan their work hours. With career development opportunities, you give employees the opportunity to upskill and reskill and get better at their jobs. 

Lastly, wellness solutions like fitness packages help boost your staff’s physical, mental, and emotional health. This then makes them more productive at work. 

Start rewarding employees with these non-monetary incentives today and see your entire team thrive.