In difficult and turbulent economic times, it’s more important than ever that our employees are engaged with their work and are productive and many business leaders recognise that a reward program helps maximise performance among their people. In fact, research from the United States has shown that this can be up to an astounding 44% in teams and 25% in individuals*.

So, whilst many companies are making the decision to implement recognition and rewards programs, some attempt to tackle it themselves and they’re finding that despite their best intentions, they don’t have the manpower to effectively manage it internally.

With HR teams stretched to their limits, the recogmition and reward program becomes just another task added to an already long list. Or, if it meted out to the divisional managers in order for them to have some ownership, it again often ends up way down the list after more pressing priorities.

Whilst everyone is usually eager and focussed in the beginning, the excitement tends to die down after the launch as the sheer magnitude of other tasks end up taking focus.

And so the recognition and reward program goes one of two ways:

1. It continues on, at a slow pace, without ever gathering any real momentum
2. It dies a slow and disappointing death

Both of these outcomes can be avoided. All it takes is recognising that some outside assistance will ensure that the program not only keeps on running, but that it grows in effectiveness over time. By outsourcing your recognition and reward program not only will it be managed effectively, if you engage a partner at the very beginning you will benefit from the expertise of a team whose core business is to design and implement R&R programs for companies like yours, day in and day out.

There are three clear advantages to outsourcing your program to a specialist. These are:

• A specialist R&R company has specific expertise in this area across a broad range of industries, so they bring a much broader perspective to the design stage to develop a better program.
• The ongoing responsibility of such a specialist is to keep the program on track, relieving you of this extra responsibility. So while you’re off tackling other projects they will be making sure the day to day requirements of the program are met and successfully managed.
• A specialist R&R company will ensure that your program is reviewed regularly and they will suggest enhancements and improvements throughout the course of the program, often with the experience of what is working well elsewhere, at other companies or in other industries. They will ensure that your program is always at the forefront of what is happening in reward and recognition.

Whilst we know you’d like to complete everything on your To Do list including maximising your R&R program, sometimes it’s more important to acknowledge that you can’t do everything and even if you could, you are not an expert at everything. And that’s where outsourcing to a specialist R&R company can make your life easier whilst achieving great results.

* "Incentives, Motivation & Workplace Performance" - An executive white paper based on the study authored by Harold D. Stolovitch, Richard E. Clark, and Steven J. Condly sponsored by the International Society of Performance and Improvement, with a grant from the SITE Foundation.

Karen Rowell is the Managing Director of Trésor Reward & Recognition Pty Ltd. Karen has extensive experience developing and implementing specialised programs for some of Australia’s leading companies across a broad range of industries.