Employee Benefits and Rewards

Workplace Gamification: Enhancing Employee Engagement and Motivation What if work felt more like a game than a chore? Imagine tracking your achievements, earning rewards, and levelling up, not in a video game, but in your everyday work tasks. Gamification does just that—it transforms routine responsibilities into exciting challenges, making work more engaging and rewarding. Employee disengagement is a persistent issue, with nearly three-fourths of employees reporting feeling disconnected from their work in recent years. Gamification addresses this by injecting fun and a sense of accomplishment into the workplace. By incorporating elements like points, badges, and leaderboards, it taps into the psychological drivers that make games irresistible: the joy of progress, the thrill of competition, and the satisfaction of mastery. The results speak for themselves. Microsoft’s call centers implemented a gamified system where agents earned badges and points for performance milestones. This simple shift resulted in a 12% drop in absenteeism and a 10% increase in productivity, showing how recognition and real-time feedback can energize teams. At Deloitte’s Leadership Academy, gamification turned training into an adventure. Participants completed missions, unlocked badges, and climbed leaderboards, which led to a 47% boost in engagement as users returned week after week to improve their skills. Similarly, IBM saw course completions skyrocket by 226% when they introduced digital badges as a reward for learning achievements. Gamification isn’t just about personal achievement—it promotes teamwork too. Cisco’s social media training program allowed employees to earn badges and levels while mastering new skills. This collaborative, game-like approach not only helped employees upskill but also aligned them with the company’s broader objectives in a fun and engaging way. Even inclusivity gets a boost from gamification. Traditional reward systems often focus on top performers, but gamified strategies create opportunities for everyone to feel recognized. For example, Southwest Airlines’ “Kick Tails” program enabled employees to reward their peers for outstanding contributions, building a culture of appreciation that motivates everyone. However, gamification isn’t without challenges. Poor design can spark unhealthy competition, discourage lower performers, or reduce enthusiasm with overly complex elements. Success lies in tailoring gamification to organizational goals while maintaining fairness and balance. By aligning work with the psychological need for autonomy, progress, and connection, gamification turns ordinary tasks into meaningful experiences. Employees don’t just work—they engage, learn, and thrive. In a world where work often feels routine, could gamification be the key to unlocking your team's potential? #nyraleadershipconsulting

10 years ago, I left my job at one of the largest and most-profitable financial companies in America, walking away from extensive "benefits" to protect my mental health and career ambitions. With an infant and a toddler to support, it petrified me to give up what I saw as my family’s "lifeline": the health and retirement benefits provided by my employer. The paralysis I felt then is probably what many individuals are facing in today's uncertain job market, with #layoffs, people being aged out of work, job shifts due to AI, etc. Of course, when any job shift occurs, the first thing many panic about is around their pre-existing "benefits" which may be going away. If you are feeling this panic, it's time to take a deep breath 🧘♀️. The benefits that you considered your lifeline and made you loyal to a job or company may not have been all that you perceived them to be. My personal journey of breaking away from traditional corporate packages has taught me lessons on how traditional benefits packages that companies use to lure candidates aren't always all they're cracked up to be…and how to find smarter and more efficient solutions for my family. Let's break some of these “perks” down and reveal what lies behind the walls: ➦ Health Insurance ⚕️: When I think of health insurance, my mind automatically goes to worst-case scenarios when I truly need the coverage 🏥. It’s easy to get lured by what is labeled as “world-class health benefits” by a company. I discovered that what I thought couldn't get any better at some of these large institutions was actually perfectly matched by finding the best plan for myself on my state’s Affordable Care Act website, at very attractive prices. ➦ Dental Benefits 🦷: Walk into a dentist's office to pay cash for your service, and the dentist himself will tell you the truth behind Dental Insurance...that it is a complete waste 🗑. You pay monthly premiums, but most of the items you actually need cost way more than you expected. Isn’t it better to consider just paying cash when you actually need a dentist, like for cleanings and x rays? ➦ 401(k)s and Retirement Plans: A quick online search about 401(k)s will show you that many people are starting to call these limiting at best, “a scam” at worst. While I wouldn't go that far, I would agree that you are forced into a program chosen by an employer who often knows little about finance and you are told to put aside your hard-earned money into the abyss. Isn't it better to start your own IRA with the guidance of a financial planner to build something that suits you best? Reach out if you don't have one, and I'll be happy to connect you with one in my network. What does all of this mean for you as you proceed with your job search? Don't take a job solely because of the allure of the benefits package if you have no interest in the job nor passion for the company's mission. You will likely pay in MANY other ways. Please comment w more ideas

Perks are not well-being. And not every “EAP” is a real EAP. Too often, we mistake activities for well-being. Step challenges, gym memberships, a mindfulness app, or a once-a-year awareness day may look good on paper, but they are not substitutes for a true employee well-being program. Activities create short bursts of positivity, but they don’t solve the deeper issues that shape how people work and live. The same confusion happens with EAP. Some services call themselves “Employee Assistance,” but the name alone doesn’t make them one. A real EAP is a specialised professional field, built on standards and expertise. It is not just a helpline or a counselling add-on. A genuine EAP works on two levels: ➜ For individuals: providing confidential, professional support for personal, family, financial, and work challenges, etc. ➜ For organisations: addressing systemic risks that threaten culture, safety, productivity, and long-term sustainability. Think of it like healthcare. A vitamin drink might give a quick boost, but it’s not the same as seeing a qualified doctor who treats the root cause. That’s the difference between perks and a true EAP. When leaders confuse the two, they leave their people and their organisation unprotected. The real question is not, “What benefits are we offering?” But, “Are we safeguarding our people and our future?” If you’re a leader and want real support for your people, happy to have a conversation. Remember: perks don’t protect people. Programs do. 👋 Hi, I’m Nerry Toledo, LinkedIn Top Voice, mental health advocate and workplace well-being & EAP specialist, Lyra MENA.

What if we ditched gold stars? As the year wraps up, many of us are knee-deep in performance reviews, year-end assessments, and bonus allocations. It’s a time for recognition, rewards, and… maybe a little dread. But here’s an unconventional thought inspired by Carol Sanford's brilliant work: What if we’re doing it wrong? External rewards—like bonuses, accolades, or "employee of the month" programs—might feel motivating in the short term, but they often do more harm than good. They can create a culture of dependency, compliance, and gaming the system rather than fostering creativity, ownership, and true accountability. So what if, instead of doling out gold stars, we focused on cultivating intrinsic motivation? Helping people find their own sense of purpose, aligning their work with meaningful goals, and empowering them to hold themselves accountable. That’s where the real magic happens. Here are two ideas to shift the script during this year-end season: 1 - Replace "What did you accomplish?" with "What did you learn?" Celebrate growth, not just output. Make space for conversations about experiments, failures, and the lessons that will fuel next year’s success. 2 - Ask, "What do you want to create next year?" Skip the checklist of KPIs for a moment and focus on aspirations. When people set goals that matter to them, they bring energy and creativity that no bonus can buy. This isn’t easy. Reward systems are baked into how many organizations operate. But leaders who experiment with these shifts often find that people become more engaged, innovative, and resilient. Are we brave enough to leave gold stars behind? 

Carrot, Stick and Beyond! The 🥕carrot-and-stick ❌ approach is a traditional theory that combines rewards (the “carrot”) and punishments (the “stick”) to encourage desired behaviours. English philosopher Jeremy Bentham popularized this approach during the Industrial Revolution. It is derived from an old story about a donkey who is best moved by putting a carrot in front of him and jabbing him with a stick from behind. In this model, positive reinforcement (such as money, promotions, or other benefits) motivates individuals to achieve specific goals, while negative consequences discourage undesirable behaviour. Historically, this approach worked well during the Industrial Era when outcomes were easily measurable, and success was tied to simple, quantifiable metrics like production numbers. For Example, the success of a company building Nuts and Bolts can easily be defined by the number of Nuts and Bolts a worker produces daily, monthly, or yearly. Now, We live in the Era of the Knowledge Industry, where success is multifaceted and dependent on many non-measurable factors. Daily innovation, teamwork, and dynamic challenges play a crucial role and lead to the compounding success of any organisation. Unfortunately, it is difficult to put measurable KPIs around these factors. Hence, we continued with the old systems, and sometimes with slight variations and pseudo methods to mask the old systems to look more progressive. While some organizations have evolved by introducing intrinsic motivation-based rewards (like Google’s passion projects), most still cling to the old carrot-and-stick framework. 💡 So, what’s the path forward? Organizations have to start moving towards an "Intrinsic motivation-based reward" structure. This structure recognizes individual effort and commitment, teamwork, and collective success. It does not need to follow one structure, framework, and KPI; rather, it should be tailor-made based on the individuals and team. Such systems are complex to manage, but we need to understand that we are in a far more complex world and solving multi-variant challenges every single day. Here are some core value systems that can shape a more effective reward structure: 🖋 People First Approach: Prioritize employee satisfaction. Happy employees tend to be more productive and loyal. 🖋 Autonomy and Ownership: Empower team members by giving them ownership of their work. Encourage risk-taking and experimentation. 🖋 Encouragement to Mastery: Create an environment where individuals can hone their skills and carve out a niche for themselves. 🖋 Continuous Appreciation: Regular, contextual appreciation matters more than annual awards. 🖋 Mission Centricity: Define a compelling mission and inspire the team to work toward it. I’m curious to hear other perspectives on this topic! Share some creative ideas to measure Intrinsic motivation. #Leadership #RewardMechanism #PeopleFirst #workplaceculture #management

Why healthcare workers are still leaving the field - and the counterintuitive leadership approach that's helping us retain talent Despite wage increases and sign-on bonuses, healthcare worker turnover reached 25.9% in 2022. Money isn't fixing the problem. After leading teams across multiple healthcare organizations, I've found a counterintuitive approach that actually works. 1/ The burnout narrative is incomplete ↳ We've focused too narrowly on workload and compensation ↳ Exit interviews reveal something deeper: loss of purpose and autonomy ↳ Clinicians aren't just physically exhausted—they're morally injured ↳ They know what patients need but feel powerless to deliver it 2/ Conventional solutions are failing ↳ Meditation apps and pizza parties don't address the root cause ↳ Higher pay doesn't compensate for ethical distress ↳ Productivity bonuses often worsen the quality-quantity conflict ↳ Leadership training rarely reaches frontline managers who need it most 3/ The counterintuitive approach: trust your experts ↳ At Frontier Psychiatry, we slashed turnover by 90% in one year ↳ Our method: balancing staff autonomy with mission alignment ↳ We focused on outcomes, not processes—the "what" matters more than the "how" ↳ Regular surveys tackled uncomfortable truths, with transparent follow-through ↳ Staff became our customers too, not just the patients they serve 4/ Create meaningful connection and authority ↳ Virtual and occasional in-person gatherings built authentic relationships ↳ Major changes required frontline approval before implementation ↳ Staff ideas weren't just collected—they were actually implemented ↳ Leadership's primary function shifted to barrier removal, not compliance enforcement 5/ Successful retention requires uncomfortable truth-telling ↳ Leaders must acknowledge what's broken before fixing it ↳ Team members need psychological safety to identify problems ↳ Executive presence on the frontlines shifted from inspection to support ↳ We celebrated when staff pushed back on unreasonable requests The irony: by giving up control as leaders, we gained more reliable outcomes. By focusing less on retention metrics and more on meaningful work, our retention improved. Most healthcare organizations won't take this path because it requires leadership vulnerability and decentralizing power. But those that do will not only retain staff—they'll attract the most engaged clinicians away from their competitors. I've seen it work across multiple organizations: meaningful authority trumps monetary incentives every time. ⁉️ What's the most meaningful change leadership could make to improve your professional life? Would you trade some compensation for more autonomy? ♻️ Repost to help healthcare leaders rethink retention beyond bonuses and wellness programs. 👉 Follow me (Reza Hosseini Ghomi, MD, MSE) for more insights on healthcare leadership, technology, and building sustainable care models.

Here's the uncomfortable truth about sign-on bonuses in the mortgage industry: You're not getting "free money." You're getting a loan that your customers will pay for. Let me explain what really happens: A big lender offers you an upfront bonus: • "Here's $100k to join our team!" • "Look how much we value you!" • "Think of all you could do with this money!" Sounds great, right? But here's what they don't tell you: That money has to come from somewhere. And guess where it comes from? • Higher rates for your customers • Lower commission splits for you • Multi-year commitments that trap you It's like taking a payday loan against your future earnings. Think about it: If you take their bonus: • Your rates become less competitive • Your customers pay more • You're stuck for 2-3 years minimum And if you try to leave early? • They'll demand repayment • They'll threaten legal action • They'll hold your future hostage It's not a bonus. It's golden handcuffs. Remember: These companies aren't giving you money because they're generous. They're buying your freedom. Want to know the real path to financial independence? Build something that's truly yours instead of selling your future for quick cash. The best bonus? Keeping more of what you earn on every deal you close.

How to reward RISK Traditional corporate incentive structures operate like a machine, rewarding 'rightness' and celebrating successful outcomes. This is fine for fuelling growth in a stable, predictable market, but not when it comes to driving innovation. Not when the machine itself is coming under pressure. When the rewards hinge on being 'right', the resulting culture kills experimentation. It suppresses the very lifeblood of innovation. If we’re punished for being wrong, then we’ll always prefer to play it safe. The power of authentic encouragement in shaping a culture that values innovation cannot be overstated: Rather than only rewarding the end result, we should consider redefining our reward mechanisms to 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 — the questioning, the exploring, the testing, the learning, and yes, even the failing. We need to build reward systems that function less like a singular golden carrot, and more like a diverse portfolio of options. In such a system, we celebrate not just the successful launch of a new product, but also a thoughtful post-mortem analysis of a project that didn't meet its aspirations. We reward employees not just for securing a profitable deal, but also for taking a calculated risk that didn't pan out as expected. Here's a thought experiment... 👨🏻💼 If Julio, a manager, took his department’s ENTIRE annual budget to the casino, bet it all on the roulette table and "successfully" doubled his money, should he be rewarded for the outcome? Or should he be removed from his function immediately for taking a stupid risk with company funds? 👩🏻💼 But if another manager, Olga, put 2% of her annual budget into exploring a range of new sales channels (e.g. TikTok ads, influencer marketing…) and the ROI after 3 months was negative, does she deserve to be punished for trying something new? Or should her bonus reflect her efforts in launching an experiment? Clearly, 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀. (And especially not lucky outcomes.) This 'portfolio' approach to reward recognises that 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 from a range of experiences, including those that don't go to plan. And crucially it sends a message that daring to venture into the unknown is at least as valued as delivering a successful outcome. Such a reward system can act as a powerful catalyst for cultural transformation within organisations of all sizes. It creates an environment where everyone is incentivised to think outside the spreadsheet, to take risks, and to see 'wrong' decisions not as failures, but as valuable stepping stones towards innovation. By shifting the focus of rewards from 'rightness' to risk and experimentation, we begin to build a culture where innovation thrives — a culture where the fear of being wrong is replaced with the opportunity to discover unknown potential.

In today's fast-evolving workplace, it's essential we distinguish between what's commonly perceived as job "perks" and what truly constitutes as one. Traditionally, elements like salary, annual leave, health insurance, allowances, and official holidays have been labeled as perks. However, it's time we recognize these are foundational employee rights, essential for basic welfare and work-life balance, rather than special privileges. Real job perks go beyond these basics, aiming to motivate, inspire, and ultimately retain talent by acknowledging their contributions and fostering their growth. These include: Performance Incentives: Monthly, quarterly, and annual commissions that directly reward employees for their hard work and achievements. Career Growth: Opportunities for advancement and promotions that show employees a clear path forward in their careers. Developmental Support: Specialized training courses, along with sponsorship and grants for further education, which invest in the employees' futures. Family Inclusion: Travel tickets for employees and their families, recognizing the importance of work-life balance and family time. Workplace Culture: Gifts, recreational trips, and a passionate work environment that make coming to work enjoyable. Flexibility: Flexible working hours that cater to diverse lifestyles and responsibilities outside of work. By focusing on providing these genuine perks, we not only enhance our workplace but also contribute to a culture where employees feel truly valued and motivated. Let's aim to create an environment that goes beyond the basic necessities to one that inspires innovation, loyalty, and growth. Recognizing the difference between rights and perks is the first step toward building a more engaged and satisfied workforce.