December 21, 2008

Employee Incentives Should Be Selected With Thought

Filed under: Employee Incentives — Incentive Programs Expert @ 1:54 pm

Employee incentives are those little extras and bonuses that workers receive for doing a great job. They are also given out when workers reach big milestones in their careers. Hand them out with care and consideration and incentives will pay back a company in a variety of ways. Select just anything to give workers and the plan could backfire.

For an employee program to reap the rewards a business seeks by establishing incentive programs, the actual gifts have to mean something to workers. They need to either provide them with something they want, something they will enjoy, or something that will be meaningful. This means items have to be chosen with thought and care.

While it’s nice for a company to go above and beyond and give incentives to workers who do the same, if those rewards aren’t at least useful, a negative impact can be had on morale. Give a worker who has earned a company thousands of dollars over budget a $5 gift card to a local restaurant, for example, and that worker is likely to feel deflated.

So, how can companies be certain their rewards make sense? When businesses rely on program facilitation companies to help them with employee rewards selection and distribution, a lot of the worry can go away.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to make an employee program resound with workers is to give them a choice in the matter. Some companies work with facilitators to put together catalogs of potential prizes. Workers who receive X award are able to pick among several options for their incentives. Those who win Y award might be given a completely different slate to choose from. The idea is not only to keep rewards in budget, but also make them more meaningful to workers.

When a good facilitator is selected to help with employee incentives everyone wins. A company will have access to thousands of potential rewards. Workers will be able to choose the prizes that appeal to them. And, an employee incentives program will be more likely to produce the results desired.

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