Reward strategy for employees

Employee motivation is achieved by the use of a reward strategy. Employee engagement has a positive effect on the whole company. Employees are motivated to do their jobs happily and successfully. When work is performed efficiently in an organization, progress will result. This is why many businesses have adopted a reward scheme for their workers (Armstrong 2002, p.94).

The primary goal of employee motivation is to improve their results. Employees can become sluggish and dissatisfied with their jobs at times. When they are inspired, they recover the ability to step on. Recognizing them and giving of a token of appreciation makes them put more effort into their work. One of the companies that believe in employee motivation is Coca-Cola. The employee motivation has impacted to the success of the Coca-Cola business.

COCA-COLA Company

Coca-Cola Company greatly believes in the motivation of the employees. Rewarding is one of their strategies that increase the performance of the employees. The organization has a reward management system which deals with the formulation and the implementation of the policies for the purpose of rewarding workers fairly. The reward management system helps the company to achieve its objectives. It deals with the reward processes, practices and the procedures which aim to meet the organizational and its stakeholder’s needs.

The company defines the word reward as a special payment for the special work done by the employee. In most cases, these rewards are tangible things like money, tangible services, and benefits that the employee gets as part of the employment relationship. The company has an excellent rewarding system. The rewarding system is meant to motivate, retain and influence the performance of the employee towards the organizational goals.

The rewards are given according to the employee’s performance. The reward increases the productivity and the effectiveness of the employees (Armstrong, 2002 p.49). This is because they are motivated by the reward. The reward gives a challenge to the other workers whose performance is low on the job. They are challenged to work hard so that they can be rewarded like others. Rewarding the employees brings about the internal positive competition in workers. They tend to improve their effort aiming for the reward at the end.

The company has a holistic view towards rewarding and recognizing of the employees. They ensure a complete, comprehensive package of pay or benefits of learning and development programs. The Coca-Cola University gives the employees benefits of leaning and development programs. It is meant to unleash the full potential of the employees who benefit from it.

The key reward choices of this organization are based on the performance but not on time served (Beardwell and Thompson, 2014.). This is a good rewarding approach because it is a fair and equitable way. The hard work of the employee is being recognized. This motivates the employee and makes them feel equal at the job place. The preference of rewarding on performance other than the seniority has many advantages. The major benefit is that it creates an equal environment for the workers. No employee would feel superior to the other. In the case where the employees are rewarded according to the time served, the older employees tend to become lazy. This is because they know they will be rewarded based on how long they have worked for the company. It does not motivate the employees who are new in the organization. It creates an environment where the workers lack internal drive. They tend to be uncompetitive thus making the organization ineffective. The key reward choice of the company is rewarding basing on the performance. This has made their workers have self-drive in doing good work.

The organization uses the external benchmark in determining the average pay for the employees (Beardwell and Thompson, 2014.). They conduct research on the pay ranges of the top five companies. They then do an average and use it as a pay range. This key reward choice makes the organization compete fairly with its potential competitors. The workers are retained in the organization because the pay range does not differ too much with other organization. They would not be competent if they used the internal equity in determining the employees pay. This is because their competitors may be paying very well thus making the workers resign and seek jobs to other companies. This key reward choice creates a platform for a fair competition with their potential competitors.

The organization builds a hierarchy in the reward system. They have a grade based pay system. The rewards differ according to the job positions. Their benefit percentage rises in the ascending order. That is, the reward for the manager is higher than that for the employees. This grading system is fair because it gives the management power to supervise others effectively. The workers will obey the management because they are at a level above them. Coca-cola is a multinational company thus cuts across many countries. In some countries where respect is based on the socio-economic aspect, the management will only be respected by the workers when they earn more. This system is fair because it makes the management have the motivation and the benefits of being in the respective positions.

Education is another aspect that the organization uses to determine the grade of an employee. Aspects of education that are being considered include the degree worth and specialization and the educational institution. It is a fair approach because it makes the employee recognize the importance of education. It encourages employees to seek further studies so that they increase their skill levels to apply in the organization. The skills gained from the education can be applied for the well-being of the organization.

Generally, the pay for the employees in the organization is based on the job size, performance, and the skills and qualifications. Job size implies the respective job positions in the workplace. That is, from the senior management to the normal staff. The pay range decreases as the hierarchy goes down from the senior management to the staff. It is a fair approach because there must be some benefits of being in authority. The management gain self-esteem for having higher pays than the normal staff. Therefore, they are able to feel the leadership positions. In the real sense, self-esteem is an essential component for any leader. Without the self-esteem, the management would fail to supervise other employees.

Skills and qualification are mainly about the education level. Those with high education level tend to be more skilled than the others (Beardwell and Thompson, 2014.). In this organization, the education of an individual is a factor considered when determining the grade based pay. Those with high education level are in higher job positions than others. Their pay, therefore, reflects their skills and qualification.

The company focuses on selling more beverages of the highest quality that fulfills the customer satisfaction. That is why the management creates more opportunities for the sales persons to sell more and get commissions. Some of the programs include the Employee Of the Quarter program. The program is meant to reward and motivate the employees to perform better. This strategy has been taken to create a high-performance working system. Some of the criteria that must be exhibited by the employee to qualify for the program include the following; Permanent status, disciplined, good attendance record, punctuality, level of responsibility for their actions and timely completion of their assigned tasks. The strategy tends to increase the performance of the employees which in return is beneficial to the company.

The reward strategy in the Coca-Cola Company conveys an essential message. Workers in the company tend to work hard and effectively knowing that there is a reward at the end. The reward strategy has made the company fulfill their goals internationally. The aim of the company is to be competitive and make more profit. This objective can only be fulfilled when the workers are willing to work efficiently. That is why the management of the Coca-Cola Company is using the employee reward system to increase their performance. The strategy has actually made the company be ranked among the top most competitive companies in the world. The reward strategy has increased the employee performance by a high percentage. Comparing the company with other companies that do not reward, people prefer working for the company. The employees’ willingness and retention has driven the company in its objective achievement.

Ways to improve the employee reward strategy

Involve the workers in the development, implementation and the revision of the rewarding programs. Discussing with the employees or their representatives on the rewarding system will improve the rewarding strategy. This will ensure that the employees and the upper management are in agreement with the rewarding system. The employees are able to give their views on the rewarding system and suggest some changes. The management may not be able to know if the rewards given motivate the employees. Through the discussion with the employees or the representatives, they can know and adjust the system. The reward system that does not satisfy the employees cannot motivate them.

Set reasonable and transparent standards for the rewards. The system strategy must be attainable to the employees so that they can work towards it. Consult the workers to ensure that they believe the rewards are within their reach. The employees can be provided with a dashboard to assess their performance. Thus, they can easily know whether to expect a reward or put some extra effort. The reward must always be linked to the performance. This will make the employees view the system as a fair method.

Change the rewards frequently. The rewards do not need to be the same all the seasons. For example, if the rewards given last seasons are in monetary terms, the next season can be something like a job promotion. The rewards should always change for the better. The workers will become curious and therefore work hard aiming at a good reward. Using the same reward in many seasons destroys the motivation of the employees (Armstrong 2002, p.67). They will always be eager for something different and better. This is a way of improving the employee reward strategy.

Offer financial rewards plus recognition. The rewards that are a combination of both the cash and social awards have a great impact. It increases the performance of an individual. Most people would love to be recognized in a crowd after doing something great. The cash should also be in a lump sum amount because money only motivates when in a significant amount. A large amount of money plus the praise increases the performance. It also challenges the other employees to work hard.

Conclusion

Employee motivation is an important strategy in any organization that wants to attain the set objectives. Success starts with the employees’ willingness and effectiveness of doing work. Therefore, different companies take different approach to employee motivation. Coca-Cola believes in the well done and the grow approach. The grow aspect describes where the employee wants to be and what to accomplish to move to the next level. The company uses the whale done to appraise any positive performance without any delays. Therefore, increase the performance of the workers.

References

Armstrong, M. (2002). Employee reward. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Beardwell, J. and Thompson, A. (2014). Human resource management.

Blašková, M., Bízik, M. and Jankal, R. (2015). Model of Decision Making in Motivating Employees and Managers. Engineering Economics, 26(5).

The real thing: truth and power at the Coca-Cola Company. (2004). Choice Reviews Online, 41(10), pp.41-6005-41-6005.