Reward Employees With Time Off

One reward given in most companies is time off. Whether it’s an hour, an afternoon, a three-day weekend or a week vacation, this form of recognition is valued by many employees.

Today’s employees don’t want to sacrifice their life for their job. Research shows 83 percent of employees say they would like to spend more time with their families and to have their jobs compliment their home life. Many organizations realize this and try to work with employees as much as they can in this regard. Often companies are willing to adjust work hours around heavy commute times, offer time off to attend to a sick child or a school play, or change a work schedule to accommodate holiday travel.

How valued is time off? In a survey conducted by Hilton Hotels Corporation, reported in Entrepreneur magazine, 48 percent of 1,010 workers said they would give up a day’s pay for an extra day off each week. (The responses differed somewhat by gender: 54 percent of working women would take a pay cut for extra time, as opposed to 43 percent of men)

1. If the job permits it, simply give people a task and a deadline and specify the quality you expect. If they finish before the deadline, the extra time is their reward.
2. If the job is one where employees must be present all day, specify an amount of work you want done by a certain time. If the work is complete on time, reward them with the rest of the afternoon off. You can also try setting up a scoring system in which people earn an hour off for maintaining a certain output for a specific period. When they earn four hours, they can have a half day off or eight hours earned they can have a whole day.
3. Award time off for improvements in quality, safety, teamwork, or any other behavior you believe is important.

Tags: Employee Rewards

Category: Recognition