Do you ever sit and read the yearly list of companies who land on the Fortune 1,000 companies list and wonder, ‘how do they do it’?  Perhaps there is some explanation in overlaying the Best Companies To Work Force list overtop.  What you will find is there are a large percentage of companies that will appear on both.  Why?  They are running effective employee incentives within their culture.  When employees are happy, and love what they are doing…it produces results.

Happier employees you say?  How?  Offering solid employee incentives within your company’s culture yields rather amazing results.

Opens Doors Of Encouragement - when employees are recognized by their peers (and their supervisors) for a job well done, it can go a long way.  Employees feel that what they do within your company matters and is appreciated.

Increase The Rate of Retention - if employees are happy and appreciated, they are less likely to leave.

Better Cost Savings - yes, implementing an employee incentives program in the beginning is going to cost some money.  When employees are better engaged and happier, it leads to increased productivity.

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Let’s take a look at some statistics regarding employee engagement and its impact in the workplace:

-  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, last year (2010), combining the months of February, June, and October, the number of employees who voluntarily quit their job far exceeded the number fired or let go.
-  Gallup recently reported that the US economy spent approximately $370 Billion in lost productivity due to actively disengaged employees
-  Of those employees who are engaged, 67% become valuable advocates to their company as an organization (Gallup)
-  According to ACCOR, 75% of leaders have no formal strategy when it comes to employee engagement (it’s stunning to note that 90% of those same leaders recognize the importance of employee engagement to the success of their business).

The truth is in the numbers.  Having a formal employee engagement strategy, or employee recognition and rewards program is critical in today’s corporate culture.  Rewarding your employees can be as simple as a ‘pat on the back’, a ‘high five’, or a ‘kudos to you’, or more with employees working towards achieving performance goals for a nice reward at the end.  Either way (or both), implementing a rewards program into your corporate culture will empower your employees to work smarter, produce more, and with greater quality.  Why?  By creating an exciting and rewarding environment for your employees, they WANT to work for you because they feel appreciated, and at the end of the day, their contributions to the organization not only matter, but are noticed.

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Earlier this spring, the non profit organization WorldatWork, reported on their findings of a survey dealing with employee recognition programs.  They surveyed about 5,600 members across the US, and Canada, and measured their responses to their views as to where the trends are going with regards to employee recognition.

Of the 677 members who responded to the survey, WorldatWork reported that over 80% of their employers offered one or more type of employee recognition programs within the last 2 years.

With a median program budget 1% of payroll between the employers, over 50% of surveyed members responded that they felt their recognition programs had a positive impact on employee recognition, motivation, and engagement.  Retention, however, feel short at only 42% of respondents indicating a positive shift.

No matter what your budgets may be, its important to remember that just by offering any type of recognition to your employees will have a positive impact on your workforce.

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Over the past several years, many companies in the US have seen dramatic increases in the ROI of their existing wellness programs.  Much of the success can be attributed to a well designed health and wellness incentive program interwoven into the corporate culture.

Smart companies are realizing that overlaying an incentive program solution onto your existing wellness program not only engages employees with an increased program participation, but saves a huge amount of money in health care expenses due to a healthier workforce.

For health & wellness programs to be optimized, companies must celebrate with their employees for achieving their goals through exciting experiences and meaningful rewards.

One idea is to implement an activity tracker where employees may list the specific goals they would like to achieve for themselves against a period of time.  Perhaps a group of employees wishes to stop smoking within the next several months.  They may set a date within the tracker as to when they would like to be ’smoke free’ and monitor how they are doing along the way.  If they achieve their goal, you as the employer should celebrate with them by offering a reward.

No mater how large or small the incentives that are tied to healthy goal achievements are, its important to create a culture of engagement and celebration for employees wanting to live a well rounded lifestyle.

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Recognizing your employees can come in a variety of different forms from informal peer ‘thank you’s’, to team performance, to mystery shops, to manager spot awards.  Whatever the form may be, it’s important to have at least some kind of employee recognition program woven into your corporate culture these days.  Studies have shown that what employees value most about their current work environment is:
-  Their work is interesting and valuable to the overall company
-  They feel appreciated for the work that they do
-  They feel included as part of the ‘corporate family’

According to many of the top executives at today’s Fortune 100 ‘Best Companies to Work For in America’, they all regard recognizing the value and importance of those who work for them” the keys to their success.

Let’s face it, everyone is working harder these days by definition; accomplish more with less.  This being said, it’s never been more important to keep your employees engaged through constant recognition and rewards.

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There can be a lot said about the fictional character Michael Gary Scott, former regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton and how he managed his employees.  As actor Steve Carell so brilliantly portrayed in NBC’s hit television series ‘The Office’, Mr. Scott regarded himself being a boss second to being a friend to his employees.  And while many of his management tactics are perceived to most as immature, offensive, or unwittingly mean, there are a couple of lessons to be learned in keeping your employees motivated.  Here are a few tips to consider in effective employee engagement.

*  Recognize Your Employees - unconventional at best, Michael Scott, can’t help himself when it comes to celebrating his employees.  For example, during the first season on ‘The Office’, Michael Scott holds Dunder Mifflin’s own Emmy Awards celebration called the ‘Dundy Awards’.

*  Individualization - each employee within your company has their own personality with unique backgrounds and different tastes.  When celebrating  your employees’ accomplishments, make sure the reward is customized to each recipient.  Even in the Dundy Awards example, Michael Scott customizes each award given to his employees based on their personalities.

*  Celebrate Often - perhaps Michael Scott celebrated just a bit too often, but it important to make sure that employee recognition doesn’t just happen once a year.  It should rather, be the strategy to continually let your employees know how valuable they are and that they are appreciated.

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Perhaps one of the most talked about topics in current events has been the ever rising cost of health care in America.  According to the National Health Statistics Group, “expenditure in the United States on health care surpassed $2.3 trillion in 2008, more than three times the $714 billion spent in 1990″.  With health care costs rising even steeper, today’s top companies are getting creative on ways of keeping their workforce healthy - by offering rewards.

Many companies are now offering an incentives to compliment their existing health & wellness programs.  For participating in a wellness incentive program, employees are more motivated to set goals for themselves, and taking positive steps in leading a healthier, more active lifestyle.  In accomplishing their targets, employees are celebrated and rewarded by the company they work for.

The truth is in the numbers.  According to a study by Brigham Young University, researchers found that employees who participate in health & wellness incentive programs miss fewer workdays, equating to “a cost savings of nearly $16 for each dollar spent on the program”.  Further, the Wellness Management Information Center adds that “he percentage of companies successfully measuring ROI for health and wellness programs has “sharply increased” over the years, from 14 percent in 2007 to 73 percent in 2009″.  The end result is a healthier, happier employees, with a dramatic increase in ROI.

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As the Dow fell dramatically again this week, and the US sits on the brink of another recession, many companies are struggling with what to do next.  Last year, the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) posted a resource article online about engaging employees for economic recovery.  One year later, the words still ring true.

As more companies are tightening their financial belts in an effort to stockpile as much savings, its important to not cut employee recognition and rewards program initiatives out of the budget.  ”A recent Saratoga Institute study showed that poor communication and a lack of recognition are the top reasons why good people left their organizations.”  Simply stated, rock star employees who remain unengaged now, will quickly leave your company the first sign of improvement.

Incentive Marketing Association estimates that as much as “85 percent of a company’s total assets are created by its investment in human capital, it is even more critical - in a post-recessionary economy - to engage every employee in the long-term success of the company.

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International sandwich shop, Pret a Manger, has recently been ripping up the newswires about their creative style in making their customers happier - by engaging their employees.  The executives at Pret have discovered that the happier their employees are, they happier their customers will be.

Fully embracing a culture of engagement, Pret has cultivated an ‘out-of-the-box’ environment where pay scale, promotions, hiring practices are based more on ‘cheerfulness’, and how the employee treats customers on the ground level.  The sandwich shop has implemented a rewards program that associates scores from ‘mystery shoppers’ and completion of training courses, as milestones with a reward.  Even the top executives are getting involved by handing out ‘Wow’ cards to employees on-the-spot.  Each card has a scratch-of reward, such as $10, or on up to a new iPhone.

You can read more about how Pret a Manger utilizes employee engagement by reading the article, ‘Would You Like a Smile With That?‘ posted in the New York Times.

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While implementing the right employee recognition program into your corporate culture is beneficial, it’s equally as important to include the right assortment of employee incentive offerings.  For decades, companies had been giving their employees either one type of reward, or at the most, a limited selection.  The employees of today are more empowered both in their personal and professional lifestyles, to where working hard for a single desk trophy is less of a motivator.  To optimize employee recognition, many companies are moving towards offering a large assortment of reward items in addition to the desk trophy.  Corporations who are currently using this strategy are finding greater returns on workplace morale and company loyalty, by letting their employees choose their own reward.

Your employees will be impressed when you deliver a rewards program offering a seemingly limitless selection of options.  Reward recipients will feel empowered in the fact they could select perhaps an iPod, or maybe a handbag they’ve been eyeing in the local department store. Employees might even choose a reward item not for themselves, but to give to someone else as a gift.

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