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Thirteen Low-Cost or No-Cost Rewards

February 4, 2003

1. "Establish a prize.
Establish a quarterly 'most valuable team member' award that teams themselves vote on.
2. Get 'em involved.
People who have an impact on reaching goals appreciate being part of forming those goals.
3. Power to the people.
What better way to spur productivity than to give proven achievers authority to spend a few bucks to increase sales, please customers, or improve critical processes?
4. Not rich, but famous.
Establish a 'Hall of Fame' in your unit or department - a gallery of pictures, trophies, and plaques, with an emphasis on winning teams as well as winning individuals.
5. Praise in print.
If you have access to internal publications - newsletters, magazines, tabloids - get word of your people's performance to the editors.
6. If they had a hammer.
Everyone's dying for a faster laptop, cell phone, or wireless e-mail kit.  See that your top producers have access to your best tools.
7. Meet the boss.
Getting a chance to hobnob with the group VIP or even the CEO is a big deal, and shows you care about your people's career tracks.
8. Share the spotlight.
A pat on the back means more when it occurs in plain view of coworkers.
9. Privy privies.
Everyone likes perks. 
10.  Free lunch.
Many companies purchase annual tickets to sports events, concerts, and other events, and many take travel, entertainment, and other goods and services as trade-outs.  Why not share them with the people who make your unit a success?
11. Stock options.
If your company isn't up to a companywide stock purchase plan, consider a smaller-scale plan as a reward that binds your winners even closer to the company's fortunes.
12. Lavish them with attention.
Years ago, the famous Hawthorne experiments showed that people show more interest in their work when management shows interest in them.
13.  Show 'em you care.
A good team works like a family, and is fueled by respect and even affection (Robbins & Finley, 2000, pp. 153-155)."

Reference:  Robbins, H. & Finley, M., (2000).  The new why teams don't work: what goes wrong and how to make it right.  San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

How do you reward star performers?

The New Why Teams Don't Work is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/

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Created: 2008-12-22, Updated: 2009-01-09