Blount Fine Foods employees last month rang in National Pizza and Beer Day with a pizza and root beer party at their Fall River plant. That’s on top of the free soup, which is always available in the company refrigerators, free fruit and the free oatmeal that became available in October as the company gears up for its busy season.
“A motivated workforce has a fabulous impact on the company’s bottom line,” said Ronnie King, senior director of human resources.
Gisselle Diaz, operations staffing manager, said such programming has “ramped up” in the past five years, with some of the most popular rewards and investments being the 2-year-old student-loan repayment program and the more traditional holiday turkeys and hams.
“We try to get ahead of the curve,” with our offerings, said King, but it’s their perfect-attendance incentive program where Blount has seen the most impact. In 2016, 34 percent of Blount employees were frequently out between September and February – the busy season. After implementing a rewards program, which sees employees with perfect attendance entered into raffles to receive various gifts, that figure fell to 17 percent.
“The ROI in what we spend [on rewards]” is worth it, said Diaz – and Blount isn’t alone.
A 2015 Society for Human Resource Management and WorldatWork report found companies have adopted more reward, incentive and morale-boosting programs since 2013. Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents support between three and six recognition programs, with the average “trending up,” according to the report.
Conducted at 489 WorldatWork member organizations internationally, the survey found companies most often use these programs as tools to motivate certain behaviors, provide a platform for peer-to-peer recognition reward longevity and celebrate longevity and retirements.
Robert Half Technology’s Rebecca Risk, metro market manager, said these programs are “an accepted norm.” Working in the firm’s Providence office, she said Ocean State companies’ use of corporate-recognition programs is “about the same” as in other states.
One of the most highly prized rewards an employer can give their staff is “the gift of time,” such as a half day on Friday during the holiday season, she said.
Two Rhode Island companies offer time off, but in exchange for volunteer work in their community.
A longtime program sees Pawtucket travel-planning company Collette’s employees receive four hours of paid time off per month to volunteer in the community. In the past, said benefits manager Phyllis Shields, those hours have been spent working at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in Providence and the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen.
The Collette rewards program is designed to “drive engagement and motivate employees,” she said.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island employees can use up to eight hours of paid time off to volunteer at a 501(c)(3) said Laura Thomas, managing director of compensation and benefits, in a statement.
The Providence-based health care company rewards employees with Virgin Pulse app point vouchers for healthy lifestyle habits, which are translated into Health Savings Account contributions at the end of the year.
For the past 12 years, West Warwick’s Westview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has offered massage sessions to its employees in recognition of the care they give patients in rehab and elderly residents.
“It’s done as a thank you, there’s nothing that they have to earn or accomplish,” said Hugh Hall, the facility’s administrator. “We’re trying to make difficult work somewhat enjoyable.”