When we began our rewards program we did so with complete faith in the benefits that it could provide us and we weren’t wrong. The employee recognition program that we implemented in our company was meant to inspire a higher morale among our employees and that’s exactly what it did. Our employees were given goals that we were interested in as a company and those who reached these goals were eligible for the prize incentives that we had put in place. This was a huge motivating factor for our employees - motivation beyond their salary - and it worked even better than we could have imagined. We started this employee program when our budget was relatively tight and we worked within the means that we had at the time. Now, however, that our budget is a bit more flexible we are excited to be able to expand our employee program and really take it to the next level.

The beauty of the employee recognition program was that we knew from the start that it was a living, breathing thing that could expand and contract according to what we wanted and needed at the time. We would be able to start small, expand the program when we had extra money to put towards it, and scale it back in times of financial struggle that every business inevitably encounters.

We were happy to be able to expand the employee program to include larger ticket items such as weekend trips and electronics after starting small with gift cards and jewelry. The employees - more than appreciating the bigger expense of items, appreciate our effort to change things up and continually invest in the program. They were excited and further motivated to continue doing all that they do on a daily basis to make our company as successful as it is.

Popularity: 32% [?]

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As a company we are always concerned with making sure that our production stays on track. Everything that we do has to be able to benefit us in some way or another. So what we do for our employees, while it is for them - to build loyalty and reduce turnover - also benefits us as a company. Happy, productive employees make for a productive, successful company; so we make every decision very carefully with the big picture in mind. This was our collective mindset when we decided to launch an employee program. We felt that an employee recognition program would provide us with everything that we wanted - helping us treat our employees with the respect that they deserve and helping us to ensure that our production was continually upbeat and successful.

The employee recognition program did all this and more. It gave our employees an added bonus above and beyond their salary and benefits that showed that we were watching and appreciated the work that they did and the goals they accomplished. Employees worked hard to achieve particular benchmarks so that they would be eligible for prize incentives. As a result, employees were happier, more productive, with higher morale. What this meant for us as a company was that we had solid employees that were protecting our interests and remaining focused on the goals at hand.

We are happy to note that we have seen our employee program through many years of changes and have seen its benefits remain the same regardless of the scale of the program. Our rewards program, right now of course is a lot different from the program we had in place two years ago. Economic conditions and a companywide pocket pinching has meant that we have had to scale back a little bit. Yet, regardless of this, the employee recognition program continues to meet our needs and helps us to not only reach out to our employees but protect our interests as a company.

Popularity: 27% [?]

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When people think about employee incentive programs they think about programs that are used to motivate employees who are doing less than perhaps is expected of them; that are working just enough to get by but not really putting themselves out there or going above and beyond. This is what we thought and the reason that we made our first attempt at a rewards program geared towards our lower level employees. Don’t get me wrong; it worked wonders. Our employee program definitely has worked to motivate our employees and they are generally putting forth much more of an effort with everything that they do. It took us several years, however, to realize that a rewards program could have an equally stunning impact on our managers who were already producing at a high level. Wasn’t it just as important to reward good work so that we could maintain it?

We implemented our employee program for our managers and we haven’t looked back. It has done everything that we wanted it to do and more. Our management team feels rewarded and appreciated for their efforts and this, in turn, motivates them to continue doing great work. Plus, since they are motivating the team below them, they are more likely to work hard on this front because a motivated team produces more and this, in turn, reflects well on the manager in charge.

We have found that an employee recognition program offers cyclical benefits that just keep giving and giving. There is nothing that has been more prominent in our continued success and our continued leadership in our industry. This is because we know that we would be nothing without our employees and by taking care of our employees we are taking care of our company as a whole. Incentive programs will continue to be at the forefront of everything that we do.

Popularity: 32% [?]

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In the last post we talked about how beneficial our employee rewards program had been for us over the years. Not only had it given us many benefits in terms of how our employees responded to it, but it also was able to change and grow along with our company. We could swap incentives in and out to make it more affordable, to offer more choices when times were financially good, and essentially make whatever changes that we thought would be most appealing to our employees at the time. In the last post we talked about some of the benefits that our employee recognition program had provided us with over the years including increased employee morale and lower employee turnover. These were important things indeed for any company and they had made a big impact with ours.

Some more benefits of our employee program include:

Increased production. Happier employees mean more productive employees and especially if those employees are working to achieve particular goals that will yield potential incentives. We had seen it time and time again; salary and benefits were important but they were expected; prize incentives - like bonuses - were over and above the typical salary package and really worked to motivate employees to work their hardest on each and every project. As a result, we had seen the production of our company increase which put more money in all of our pockets.

Increased ownership of projects and job positions. In going after their own particular goals, employees took real ownership and pride in everything that they were doing. They took control, they delegated responsibilities, they stayed on track, and they had laser focus on what they were doing.

Employee recognition, for us, will always be a part of our company because it’s something that can grow and change along with us and always provide superior benefits.

Popularity: 29% [?]

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When we first set up our employee recognition program we literally had a dozen employees and the owners running the company. We were small but we were mighty and we wanted to do all the right things to make this a great place to work for a lifetime. The employee program that we chose was presented to us by an amazing management company that helped us put our prize tiers in place and manage the program on a day to day basis. They worked within our budget and really listened to us in terms of what we knew would be interesting and ultimately most motivational to our employees. It was a big success right from the start and we have continued to use a rewards program throughout the many years that we have now been in business. In fact, one of the great things about a well-orchestrated employee program is the fact that it can be changed according to needs and budget; which means that we have seen many variations of our employee recognition program over the years. No matter what we have in place, however, it has always been successful and certainly well received by those who work here.

We have found that the employee rewards program has yielded some very specific benefits for us including:

Increased employee morale. When employees are working towards something that is over and above their salary - something amazing that inspires them - they tend to work harder and to be excited about this work. We found that with a rewards program in place we are able to keep the atmosphere in the office positive and enthusiastic.

Lowered turnover. It’s a fact that when employees are happy they want to stay. The employee recognition program honors their hard work and gives them something extra to earn. Happy employees make for longer term employees.

More in the next post…

Popularity: 26% [?]

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In the last post I talked about the position that our company was in - facing a struggling economy and lowered profits we had to choose a salary freeze for all our employees. This, by no means, was a popular decision but the fact was that many others in the same position throughout the industry were simply losing their jobs. Our employees were happy to be employed and they understood that in freezing our salaries and keeping things status quo for awhile we could potentially coast through this time period until we were in a better position. Our employees understood our predicament and they knew that we would bring them back up to speed the very minute that we were in a position to do so. Until then, we had our employee incentives program to ease the pain of salary freezes. The employee incentives program had been in place for three years running and was absolutely one of the best things about our company. We had set out goals for our employees to achieve and those that did month to month were eligible for particular prizes that we had chosen in advance. The prize tiers changed according to what we needed them to be - based on our budget and the interests of our employees. This was a great thing as we could adjust the prizes - even when we were really struggling like we were at the moment.

What we found is that even though the prizes were more modest than they had been in the past, the employee rewards program continued to operate as it had all along - motivating employees, promoting an enthusiastic workplace, opening lines of communication between employees and management, reducing turnover, and increasing production. Our employee recognition program has been and will continue to be a big part of what we offer as a company and will see us through to a much better economy.

Popularity: 44% [?]

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