- On September 26, 2025
In today’s competitive workplace, attracting and retaining top talent goes far beyond offering the highest salary and a top-tier benefits package. Current unknown economic variables are leading many companies to consider their spending habits more conservatively.
Studies indicate that today’s employees desire recognition, respect, and a sense of purpose. Non-monetary rewards can have just as powerful an impact, if not more, as bonuses and salary increases. Oftentimes, their intrinsic value provides a long-term effect surpassing general dollars and cents.
Public Recognition
As simple as it sounds, acknowledging achievements in front of peers can go a long way. It not only reinforces the employee’s positive behavior but also helps establish a team culture that values and celebrates achievements.
Some ways managers and employers can deliver effective public recognition include:
- Shoutouts during team meetings
- Create a “Wall of Fame” (either physically in a commonly visited space or virtually on your organization’s intranet)
- Start a peer-to-peer recognition channel on internal communication platforms (i.e. Slack, Teams, etc.).
One thing to note…when recognizing peers, managers should focus on specifically calling out the behavior and/or action leading to the outstanding result. For example, Taylor showed exceptional negotiation skills in securing a renewal with a key customer.
Personalized Acknowledgement
The phrase “one size fits all” applies to some areas, but not when it comes to effective recognition. Managers should be encouraged to better understand how an employee prefers to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work. Tailoring recognition to the individual employee makes the reward more meaningful and lets them know their manager is listening.
Ways to personalize acknowledgement include:
- Handwritten Thank You Notes – This shows the employee you have taken the time to really think through their contributions and capture them in writing. These are items many employees proudly display in their offices and cubicles.
- Recognize Small Wins that Matter – By knowing your employee personally, recognizing progress they have made in an area they covet can go a long way.
Growth and Development Opportunities
An organization’s greatest asset and differentiator is their employees. Like any asset, employers want to invest in them to help the employee grow and ultimately reward them. Employees want to feel that their contributions are valued. This is especially critical to employees who are considered high performers within the organization. By offering growth opportunities, employers overtly demonstrate they are making a long-term investment in their employees’ careers.
To achieve this effort, managers should carve out time and have candid conversations about what skills the employee wants to develop. Managers should then develop a plan and tailor opportunities specific to building these areas. Examples of tailored solutions can include: assigning stretch projects, offering cross-training assignments, creating mentoring or job-shadowing opportunities, etc.
Ultimately, the time you invest in your employees in the short term can pay off handsomely in the future.
Autonomy and Trust
Although it may be difficult, providing your employees with more control over their work can positively impact retention. This can help boost employee morale and overall job satisfaction. It goes without saying that autonomy is an impactful reward. Trusting your employees to make decisions sends a clear message that you believe in their ability to meet job deliverables.
Some of the ways you can exhibit autonomy and trust include:
- Allow flexible schedules or remote work (if possible)
- Assign greater ownership/decision-making responsibilities in key projects. Having a voice in how things are done helps the employee feel more empowered and valued
- Include them in the goal-setting process, personal and professional
Leadership Exposure and Vulnerability
Since many companies have multiple organizational layers, employees may feel limited in their ability to access higher-level leaders. As an employer, think about creative ways to get your top performers in front of them. Doing so reinforces how you, as a manager, value that employee’s overall contribution to the organization.
Ways to drive increased leadership exposure include:
- Call out the actions and deliverables of your top performers in leadership meetings
- Work with the senior leader to arrange a one-on-one meeting with the employee(s)
- Nominate top employees for company awards or industry recognition
- Nominate the employee in Talent Review and Succession Planning exercises
Wellness and Work-Life Balance
It goes without saying that sometimes trying to balance work and home responsibilities can be difficult. Supporting an employee’s well-being is important. It shows the employer values them for all aspects of their being, not just their production. As a leader, you want to be aware of signs associated with overwork or burnout.
To ensure increased employee wellness and work-life balance, consider the following:
- Offer mental health days, summer hours, etc.
- Develop, promote, and model healthy work boundaries (i.e., no calls/emails after 7 PM, minimize/eliminate late Friday meetings, etc.)
In conclusion, managers and employers have numerous ways to help create meaningful and impactful non-monetary, intrinsic rewards for their workforce. The ultimate goal should be to create an internal culture where employees feel respected, see,n and motivated to deliver their best work. This will help to drive increased loyalty and morale, leading to greater team performance, retention, and value in the long-term.
ExpressLink Broker Partners have access to a team of HR Consulting professionals. Designed to deliver additional value to your clients, consider leveraging HR Consulting’s full range of tactical and strategic services. If your clients are interested in having conversations or receiving more support about this topic, contact your ExpressLink representative.