From personalised reward schemes to one-on-one time with the boss, we look at how you can get the best out of a hybrid team.

There’s more to motivating people than just money and status. We look at how business leaders can use alternative incentives to drive and reward their hybrid teams.

Many companies have a one-size-fits-all approach to rewarding their employees that revolves around remuneration. But, as the hybrid revolution continues to accelerate, this way of rewarding hard work can feel a little outdated.

PwC’s The Future of Reward report found that 59% of businesses made changes to their employee reward programmes in 2020, including reducing the number of employee assessments and increasing the frequency of check-ins.

It also showed that hybrid employees preferred more frequent check-ins, with a greater focus on wellbeing and development.

Rewards and incentive programmes are having to adapt to meet the changing needs and desires of the workforce, particularly among younger people.

Those programmes don’t always need to be solely focused on bonuses and salary boosts. Employees also want to feel seen, be recognised and have their work valued. Many will prefer perks that improve their work-life balance or make their time at work more meaningful.

Introduce external benefits

Remember, hybrid working is not a reward in itself – it’s simply the reality of the future of work. To complement working from homes and offices, why not offer benefits such as membership to a neighbourhood coworking space as an incentive?

A recent survey by Regus parent company IWG showed that 72% of office staff would prefer a hybrid way of working to a full-time return to the office – even if going back to working Monday to Friday in the office meant earning 10% more money. This figure was even higher for the 18-24-year-olds, who said they would rather have flexible working practices over a pay increase.

Offer extended communication time

Incentives and rewards don’t always have to cost the company a lot of money, as sometimes offering time can be equally as rewarding as an increased pay cheque. The Global State of Engagement study by Officevibe showed that 31% of employees wanted more frequent communication with their manager. One way to incentivise your hybrid team is to offer one-on-one meetings with managers and leaders to talk about aspirations and career development.

Invest in professional development

It’s a manager’s duty to empower and get the best out of their team to ensure the business thrives. Investing in your employee’s skills shows a commitment to their professional careers, and this has been proved to keep teams more engaged at work.

It becomes even more important when motivating a hybrid workforce, as remote workers can feel that their career advancement is being overlooked or forgotten due to being ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Investing in their career development with further training and personalised programmes can both help to retain talent and give them a much-needed confidence boost.

Make success visible

When working with a distributed workforce, it can be all too easy to overlook the less obvious contributions individuals are making. It’s more important than ever to celebrate the wins and shout about every success when you have a hybrid team.

“Don’t just let your employees know how much you appreciate their efforts. Let everyone in the company know, too, particularly their higher-ups,” says Aliza Knox, former tech exec for Google and Twitter, and Woman of the Year in IT Asia 2020, in Forbes magazine.

Offer personalised small rewards

Rather than have a blanket offering of rewards across the hybrid team, such as free lunch vouchers or local gym membership, instead consider offering more personalised perks such as subscriptions to apps such as Spotify or Calm. Alternatively, you could offer hotel vouchers for use at their leisure.

Better yet, acknowledge the “gift of time” that hybrid working gives (by not requiring employees to commute for long periods on a daily basis), or even better, reward people with additional time off to recharge and reflect.

However you choose to incentivise employees, utilising a flexible workspace in local neighbourhoods offers a hybrid team professional yet convenient office space close to home.

With locations in thousands of neighbourhoods all over the world, find out how Regus can help your teams stay connected in the new hybrid world of work.