Meaningful Ways to Reward Your IT Team and Its Achievements

Money makes the world go round. But let's be honest, it's a limited resource. That's why it's important to be creative when finding ways to reward an IT team for a job well done.

To recognize employees in a truly meaningful way, organizations should look beyond tangible rewards, like money and time off, says Yvette Cameron, senior vice president, global product strategy, Oracle Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM), in an email interview. "These rewards are great short-term motivators, but leaders need to consider their long-term goal — what will keep employees engaged, motivated, and productive at work?"

Making It Meaningful

Employee recognition plays a pivotal role in cultivating a strong enterprise culture and driving employee engagement, Cameron says. "If done correctly, a strong company culture can motivate employees, provide them with a sense of accomplishment, and make them feel valued for their efforts, contributions, and achievements," she explains. "It can also boost engagement and increase productivity and loyalty, resulting in higher retention."

Rewards come in all shapes and sizes, observes Andre Nguyen, chief legal officer and chief people officer at enterprise transformation platform provider Orbus Software, via email. The best rewards, he says, are the ones that can be recalled years later. "When employees reflect on their careers, these are the ones they remember."

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With technology rapidly advancing, it's more important than ever to invest in personalized IT team skill development and employee well-being programs, which are a win-win for employees and the companies they work for, says Carrie Rasmussen, CIO at human resources software provider Dayforce, in an email interview.

Russ Felker, CTO at freight logistics service provider Trinity Logistics, suggests rewarding team members by building curiosity about emerging technologies. "To leverage this driver, a leader can thank team members with specific training or attendance to events, such as vendor hackathons," he notes via email.

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