There is nothing that is going to be even remotely popular about a salary freeze, no matter what the industry. Except, of course, if the salary freeze is in lieu of massive companywide layoffs. This was our situation. Like every other business we had taken a huge hit in the current economic conditions and we were doing anything and everything to find a way around laying off employees. The last thing we wanted to do was put someone who had worked so hard for us on the unemployment line - and simultaneously short staff our company and potentially harm our production. So we chose a salary freeze across the board. If we could keep our overhead relatively stationary, we had more of a chance of surviving the economy and getting our employees back where they belonged financially. As you might expect, the salary freeze was not well received but it was certainly preferable to layoffs. Plus, our employee incentives program helped ease the pain.

Our employee recognition program was implemented about three years ago and it had been widely popular right from the start. It essentially identified goals that the company wanted employees to achieve and those who achieved at that level were eligible to win prize incentives that had been chosen to correspond to the company’s goals. We had kept the prize incentives well within our budget and had continued to do so. Even now, while were doing all that we could to save money, we were still invested in the employee program. We were not spending outside our means and we knew even modest prize incentives meant a lot to our employees. While we instituted a salary freeze, we kept the rewards program in place as a sign of faith for our employees - a way to show them that we were invested in keeping them working with us and earning money. We knew that the employee incentives program would help us rally our employees when the economy eventually turned the corner. More in the next post…

Popularity: 47% [?]

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In the last post, I talked about how our employee recognition program - such a huge part of our company - had made such a dramatic difference in our turnover rates, employee morale, and overall production. We had started the rewards program with very little money but still great incentives. We had expanded the program over the years - expanding the prize offerings based upon the growth of our budget. It had served us well - really getting our employees into the action and giving us tools that we needed to really take control of what goals we wanted to reach and the strategy we wanted to implement in order to achieve them.

Now that we had seen how well the employee recognition program had worked for our operations staff, we wanted to see how it would fly for midlevel and senior management. We figured this would be a great way to get everyone in on the fun - to offer management incentives to those who could motivate their team to achieve particular goals. We set the plan into action and watched it fly; it had spectacular results.

By definition, managers are called upon to lead their team. With very specific goals in place and the options of incentives to choose from if the goals were met, managers were able to plan accordingly, delegate jobs, and manage the projects with a clearer focus. The employees working under the managers - by extension - were also in line to receive incentive prizes if their team achieved particular goals; so they were not only working hard for their salary and for their manager, but also because they could stand to gain something for their own personal achievement. A rewards program helped people take individual ownership of a project as well as work together for the greater good of the team and the company.

Popularity: 27% [?]

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When we first implemented our employee program it was with much fanfare and a whole lot of confidence that it could do wonders for our overall employee morale, turnover, and company production on a larger scale. It didn’t start too big in terms of budget; we only had so much to spend but we chose really great prizes that were still within our financial means and that we knew would get the employees’ attention. It worked. Before we knew it, we had employees working hard everyday to reach particular goals - objectives that we had decided upon as a company - in order to win particular prizes - or bonus incentives. Seeing their peers win prizes sparked other employees to get on board and it’s been a huge part of our operations ever since. Now that our budget is a little higher, our prizes are bigger and more varied as well. The employee program has literally grown along with our company and I can’t imagine a time when it won’t be a significant part of what we do.

We did decide recently, however, that we needed to expand our thinking in terms of who we offer the program to within our company. You see, we had always only opened our employee program to the lower level of employees - the operation staff - in our company and this had worked really well for us. Yet it was becoming clear that such a program would work equally well amidst mid and senior management level. Why not set management goals and allow those managers who were able to motivate their team to achieve those goals to be eligible for incentives as well? We decided to give it a try and before we knew it, the employee recognition program that we had worked so hard to implement was now going to be expanded even further. More in the next post…

Popularity: 28% [?]

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When it boils down to it, we’ll all looking to make a difference in our businesses. We want to sell the best products, deliver the best service, and make our own mark in the world. As business owners, this is what we all try to do in our own way and in our own terms. For our company, one of the ways that we were able to make our mark was through the implementation of an employee program; which was our way to give our employees the motivation they needed and the recognition that we thought they deserved. It has worked very well for us and its benefits have extended far beyond the impact that it has had on our employees’ productivity.

We worked with a management company to put together a rewards program that worked for us. We had done much research on incentive programs and knew that we could set it up to include the prize incentives that we thought would be interesting and well received and were, of course, within our budget. We were able to choose the prizes that we wanted and to connect those prizes with the achievement of particular goals within our company. The inclusion of our employee recognition program has yielded many benefits, including:

Improved morale. Of course the most important benefit of an employee program is the fact that employees are recognized for the work that they do and the goals they achieve. This is a huge boost for employees and reflects well on the company as a whole.

Increased production. The rollover benefit of there being a higher morale in the workplace is the fact that more work gets done. People are motivated and have goals within their sight at all times.

Better strategy. Setting up an employee recognition program meant that we really had to define our goals as a company - and we have to continue to define them as we make changes to the program so that employees know what they are expected to achieve and what they are eligible for if they do. The great benefit of this is that we have been able to be more organized and strategize much more effectively about what can help our company achieve success.

Popularity: 42% [?]

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In the last post I talked about the challenge of opening up a new business and how we were right away concerned with making sure that our employees felt appreciated and a part of our family. We knew that happy employees meant productive employees and wanted a solid foundation on which to start our business. We were, however, concerned with two things - being able to afford the incentives and making sure that the program was adequately managed along the way. We found a great company that assured us that incentives could be found for any budget and that we could adjust the program as we went along to incorporate our budget changes. Further, they would help us to manage the program on an ongoing basis so that we could keep it fresh and exciting for our employees. We wanted them to feel as though we had put some thought behind the program and that we had taken the time to choose those incentives that would be interesting and appealing to them. After all, we were offering incentives for reaching particular goals that we had identified as a company; we wanted those incentives to fit the bill.

In the end, we saw many great things happen as a result of putting the employee program in place including:

Employees going above and beyond. It’s one thing to come in and do your job and another to be personally invested in that job. Our employees were treating the company like it was their company and that made all the difference.

The motivation of employees who didn’t win the incentives. Of course we expected those who won incentives to be motivated but it had residual effects - igniting a fire under other employees because they saw what they could win and they wanted to try harder.

Friendly competition. There was something really great about watching friendly competition ensue between our employees. Company goals became something that were discussed on a daily basis and it was great for everyone.

Popularity: 23% [?]

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Opening a new company is a challenge in and of itself without adding one more thing into the mix; but with so much riding on our success we wanted to make sure that our employees were satisfied and productive. The result of our research into everything that we could do to motivate and inspire our employees was the decision to put an employee program into place; a comprehensive incentive program that could be managed, adjusted, and used to help increase morale and, subsequently, company production.

We knew that in order to be most successful a rewards program had to be handled and managed with care - with an eye on the budget at all times. We decided to work with a reputable company in the industry that could give us good direction in establishing an appropriate employee recognition program and could further help us to manage and adjust it along the way. The first thing that we did was to set up an employee program that would be appropriate for where we were at this moment in time; in other words, to choose incentives that were in line with our current budget. We were initially concerned that our budget - clearly limited with the recent opening of our offices - would really stymie our attempts to motivate employees. the company that we are working with, however, assured us that we could make choices that were well within our budget and still allow us to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish - to give our employees the respect and appreciation that they deserve and to continually motivate them to achieve the goals that we set forth as a company.

We’ve noticed many positive outcomes from the implementation of our rewards program; some that we expected and even some that we didn’t. More in the next post…

Popularity: 30% [?]

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It’s been said many times that you can’t ask employees to do something that you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself. As company management, you are expected to set the example; employees look to you to know how to behave - to know how enthusiastic they should be about their jobs. It is incumbent upon employers, therefore, to do all that that they can to lay the appropriate groundwork in their offices - to set the stage, so to speak. While it is obviously important to communicate the highest level of enthusiasm and to behave in a manner that is appropriate in order to set the bar for employees, it is also important to appropriately acknowledge employees and the work that they do every day. An employee program is a wonderful way to set the tone in the workplace and set the bar high for employee and management achievement.

An employee rewards program is a terrific way to recognize employees for their work today and to motivate them - and others - to put in a great effort in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. While many may think that setting up an employee recognition program is difficult, time-consuming, and too expensive to even consider, the truth is that incentive programs are relatively easy to set up and can be as affordable as you want or need them to be for their situation.

Working with a reputable company, employers can custom tailor their employee program to work within their budget - offering a variety of incentives that may include everything from jewelry to electronics. Should their budget expand to the point that they would like to offer higher ticket items, they are easily able to do so - as well as making any other adjustments that they need to make throughout the program in order for it be continually successful.

Popularity: 32% [?]

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In the last post I talked about some of the reasons why we decided to put an employee program into place in our company. We knew it was the right thing to do for us. We have a very fast-paced environment where we are constantly moving on to the next thing. Sometimes it becomes difficult to stop and acknowledge the work that is being done on a daily basis. An employee program allowed us to offer that well-deserved recognition, to set goals for our employees in a business that is very goal oriented and results-driven, and to improve morale and production as an extension. It was in no way difficult to make the decision to implement a rewards program. However, we wanted to make sure that our employee program could be changed frequently and thus reflect the style and pace of our business and industry at large.

Because we work in a very seasonal environment - with merchandise being brought in and out and strategies put into place - we wanted an employee incentives program that reflected this standard of operation. So we worked with our rewards program company to put a tiered incentive programs into place that we could literally change seasonally with prizes that are reflective of the season. For instance, in the fall we tend to offer more gift cards and big ticket electronic items - fan favorites during the holiday season. In the winter, it’s all about extended weekend vacations in a tropical location. And so on.

Now that spring is here we are adding to our collection - including apparel, jewelry, household items, and spa visits as people refresh and renew for the season. We have found that rotating the incentives in our employee recognition program goes a long way to retaining the interest of our employees and lighting that competitive spark.

Popularity: 31% [?]

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Our company is very season-driven in terms of the products that we offer so that the shuffling in and out of the seasons is a very big deal for us. We are always making room, paring down and strategizing the next step. Nothing stays the same for too long in our offices; this is just the way that our business is run and so the atmosphere has always had a bit of frenzied activity in the air. Those who are drawn to this business actually appreciate and enjoy the environment. So when it came to setting up our employee program we knew that we couldn’t simply put a stagnant campaign into effect that would remain unchanged; we had to make sure that it complemented our business. The reasons that we initially choose to use incentive programs was simple:

We run a fast-paced business where it quickly becomes difficult to recognize individual efforts. Goal achievements that were being tracked through our employee recognition program would ensure that we knew what was happening in the company and who were our star performers.

We operate a very results-driven team where meeting goals is critical. Our rewards program would allow us to call out and recognize those team members that had gone the extra mile. This reflected well on us, let the employee know they were appreciated, and inspired other team members to work just as hard.

Incentive programs improve morale because they are an added value to the employee that is over and above their salary and any benefits and bonus structure that they receive. Improved morale is important for the workplace all-around. Happy employees mean better production and better production means a successful company.

We knew why we wanted an employee program but we also wanted to make sure that it reflected our standards and expectations as a company. More in the next post…

Popularity: 31% [?]

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