There is nothing better than running a company that not only has the respect of the industry as a whole but also has the full, unequivocal support of its employees. Anyone in business knows that this is a difficult feat to pull off under any circumstances but most decidedly now when economic conditions warrant everyone to tighten their belts and operate with as much of a barebones staff as possible. Those companies that are able to keep the motivation of their employees high and support morale even in bleak economic conditions know a thing or two about planning; and those who include incentive programs in their plans know that they are something that can really pay off for employees as well as management.
Incentive programs allow for the company in question to put together a variety of goals for employees to achieve and a host of prize incentives that coordinate with the reaching of those goals. Employee recognition programs can be anything that you want them to be - large scale programs that include high ticket items like jewelry and trips or lower scale programs that are more in line with your budget and include such things as gift certificates to restaurants and small electronic items.
The most important thing to remember about incentive programs - other than the fact that they work in helping to motivate employees in a way that management alone is often not able to achieve - is the fact that they can be scaled according to a company’s budget. Meaning, that while your rewards program may look a certain way now it can be drastically - or even microscopically - altered to fit your budget as your company grows and changes. There are not many things out there that allow companies to reach out to employees in such a way and certainly not many programs that allow companies to scale them to size.
Popularity: 28% [?]
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In this day and age most employers will not argue that good employees are hard to find. It’s difficult enough to find someone who wants to work; who has a passion for what they do and a desire to achieve success. Then of course to find someone who is skilled in what they do and has the ability to hit the ground running is another thing entirely. Unfortunately it also seems that when those people are identified and they are trained and integrated into the workforce they leave sooner expected. Turnover continues to be high and for companies that desire to build a family of employees who stay with the company for the long haul this can be enormously frustrating. What causes such high turnover? There are a number of different factors. Job dissatisfaction, unhappiness with salary, desire to move on to another area to a higher position; the list goes on and on. But one thing that employers can do to make sure that they are doing right by their employees is to make sure that they are properly recognizing their work. What does this mean? Well what we are finding is that it means more than words and a pat on the back.
It is part of human nature to want to be recognized; for our hard work to be seen and validated. An employee recognition program allows employers to do more than just acknowledge their employees through their words; it allows them to acknowledge them through action. An employee rewards program matches achievement with different tiers of incentive prizes that employees can earn. Companies of all sizes, across all industries are finding the benefits in an employee recognition program - of being able to show their employees that their work is seen and honoring them for that work through a selection of prizes that can range from electronics to full blown vacations.
Popularity: 44% [?]
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In the last post I talked about how successful incentive programs had been in our company. We had implemented our employee recognition program some time ago and it had been well-received from the start. At that time we had not been able to come out of pocket with substantial raises for our employees and morale was down across the board. We were still, however, trying to increased productivity and light a fire under our employees. Our initial employee recognition program included jewelry and smaller, less expensive electronics; but we have moved on to a higher level with our rewards program and we were happy to see that it was most definitely working. The weather at this particular time surely had a lot to do with the success of the program since several of our prizes are weekend trips in far warmer locations.
The way that the employee recognition program has worked and continues to work is like this: management identifies several goals that we would like to work towards. We have set sales goals as well as safety goals and even profitability goals. Those employees who are standouts in achieving these goals are identified as those who are eligible to choose incentives from our employee program. Obviously it’s not easy for someone to win a trip and in fact no one has done it yet. The frigid weather, however, has really amped things up in our company as all of the employees are now more motivated than ever - especially now that the holidays are over - to win a trip where they can find some peace, quiet, and warmth!
We are anxious to see how the these employee incentives work to further motivate our employees this winter and how the program will continue to evolve and inspire employees in the future.
Popularity: 38% [?]
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Like most of the country, our state is currently in the middle of an unprecedented deep freeze. We have been relatively spoiled over the last several years - enjoying rather mild winters; and the current low temperatures have been a difficult adjustment for everyone. In my company, the cold has actually worked to our advantage in helping us to increase employee morale. How? Because of the employee rewards program that we recently implemented as a way to increase our productivity and bolster employee/management relations.
The employee recognition program had been something that we had considered for some time before putting into action. We were looking for a way to increase our production; and with a team of employees who seemed to be wilting by the month that seemed to be difficult. Admittedly we had not been able to be too generous with raises over the past year but we were facing economic restrictions like everyone else. What we did do, however, was decide to move forward with an employee incentives program so that our employees had a chance to excel and subsequently receive a reward of their choosing.
Initially the rewards program that we put in place included such things as small electronics and jewelry but when we saw what a big hit it was and how effective it was in motivating employees we quickly moved to the next level. Now we have bigger things like televisions and even weekend trips. The trips - to warm destinations - are what are causing the most stir right now and causing the cold weather to be on our side.
Since we began the rewards program we have communicated the process to our employees in detail. We made them aware of the goals that we had set for them and the prizes that they would be able to receive if they reached those goals. This had been enormously successful right from the start - but especially now. More in the next post…
Popularity: 42% [?]
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The great part about the holidays is the chance to relax and really sink your teeth into something that is all about magic; a chance to escape reality. The bad part, of course, is that it eventually comes to an end and reality awaits. It can be a real letdown and a lot of people have a hard time “coming off” the holidays and coming down from the excitement; getting back into the regular grind can be enormously difficult. Companies that are considering implementing a rewards program might well consider the New Year as a great time to go about doing that; a way to get the New Year off to a great start and motivate employees when they are typically feeling down and out. After all, the holidays are over, the winter is here, and it’s difficult to keep your eye on the prize. A well coordinated employee recognition program can put some fire under employees and make it a great time of year for any company.
In order to do this effectively work with a company that understands how best an employee program works - can offer solid direction on the types of prizes will be best suited to your employees and still stay within your budget. Such a professional company can lay out your rewards program within the parameters that you are comfortable with and help you manage it accordingly. Then, if things change in the months/years to come the employee recognition program can change to include prizes that are more in keeping with your budget and your employees’ expectations.
Not only do incentive programs set up goals for the coming year they let employees know that their efforts are still recognized, still appreciated, and still counted on in order to make the coming year successful for everyone involved.
Popularity: 42% [?]
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In the last post we talked about the morale of a company and how low morale among employees can translate to slowed production and, ultimately, a decrease in profits. Company ownership and management may think they are doing all that they can for their employees but the reality is that in most cases employee needs slip through the cracks because management isn’t listening hard enough. A variety of complaints may arise from the employee “peanut gallery” - of which management/owners may only catch snippets; complaints that may include working conditions, issues with benefits, unhappiness with salary, lack of bonus, or more. But, as we discussed, this all boils down to employees not really feeling heard; feeling as though they don’t matter to the company. And when employees feel as if no one cares about them they are likely not to care as much about their job. Nothing replaces the need for the company powers-that-be to listen to their employees; but demonstrating a commitment to employee recognition doesn’t hurt either and that’s where a solid rewards program comes into play.
An employee program can be set up with the help of professionals who will actually manage the program. You can start off choosing a host of incentive prizes and change them as the program evolves. Most importantly, starting an employee incentives program should come with some effort towards determining what is best for your company; so work with a professional to determine:
What you can afford. Remember, incentive programs can be manipulated according to your financial needs so even if you choose one program now you can easily change it as your company grows.
What you will use the employee program to do - to reward safety, for sales incentives, retention programs, or team building.
What prizes will work best for motivating your employees - anything from gift cards and electronics to vacations and jewelry.
Popularity: 61% [?]
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There’s nothing worse for an employee than feeling like the work that they do doesn’t matter. They may grumble about their salary, their bonus, their hours, or their inability to communicate with management - but all of these separate and specific complaints really all boil down to the same thing - an employee feeling that they are thought of as “less than” by the people for whom they work. Let’s face it; there are a ton of management techniques out there all designed to help owners and managers better communicate with their employees in a variety of ways but until you are ready to take action and really put these skills to work each and every day you are putting your company at risk of low morale which can slow production and label you with a negative reputation in your industry. A well considered employee rewards program, however, can go a long way towards turning things around.
An employee recognition program, as its name suggests, allows companies to recognize the hard work of their employees by rewarding them with specifically chosen items. Businesses often work with professionals who can set up customized incentive programs that allow the company itself to determine the criteria for employees who are entitled to receive prizes as well as choosing the prizes themselves. The truly great thing about incentive programs is that they can be completely scalable to what is appropriate to the hosting company and can be changed at any time to include a larger selection, more expensive items, less expensive items, who is eligible, and whatever else is important to the company at that time.
Of course putting together a solid employee incentives program means giving careful consideration to your employees, their interests, what might be considered a motivation to them, and, of course, your budget. More in the next post…
Popularity: 51% [?]
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Companies - whether they are large or small - each have their own challenges that they face. I can speak on both with some level of expertise as I have worked for both small companies and large organizations - so large, in fact, that I never even met half of the people with whom I worked. I know that - large or small - companies have to make sure that they deal with their employees with professionalism and a solid plan in place. For those companies who are managing thousands of employees, in fact, it’s extremely important to ensure that their employees feel engaged and recognized for their work. An employee rewards program works very well in this regard.
In the small company in which I worked we utilized an employee recognition program and I can say from firsthand experience that it worked amazingly well to keep management connected to its employees. Those employees who reached particular goals that the company had set out were given access to chose from among a host of prizes offered through the rewards program. We had everything from jewelry to electronics.
When I first came to this company - while it was much larger - I knew that an employee recognition program would be just as effective. In fact, I was convinced that an employee program would work in an even greater capacity in reaching out to employees in an environment where management was not able to see their employees face to face on an everyday basis simply because of the scope of the workplace. Employees often felt like a number; like they were easily replaceable and that their contributions didn’t mean anything. An employee recognition program, however, would give these same employees the confidence of knowing that the company for which they worked so hard was behind them just as solidly.
Popularity: 66% [?]
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Our company first instituted an employee recognition program three years ago when we wanted to let our employees know that we recognized and appreciated their hard work. Because our company relies on the performance of our sales team we first implemented an employee program for this specific department. Those who reached the particular sales goals that we set forth were eligible to receive prizes – incentives – that we had chosen to offer through our program. We didn’t have a huge budget and initially chose prices that were on the lower end of the spectrum but were still quite effective. Our employees were thrilled with the idea and happy to be able to work towards the prizes that they wanted. They felt empowered and appreciated that we were taking their efforts seriously.
Now that we’ve seen the success of the rewards program firsthand we know the benefits it can offer our company as a whole and we are happy to continue to use it in the years to come. In fact, now that we have a little bit of a bigger budget we decided to change the prizes that we offer in our employee incentives program. While we were able to initially offer electronics and gift cards we are now able to improve the incentives that we were offering – taking them to the next level. We can now offer things like trips and jewelry; incentives that will further enhance our employee recognition program.
More than anything this program improved the morale of our sales department and they were thrilled to see that the prizes would continually change as the resources of the company changed. We figured if it worked so well with the sales team then it would work with the manufacturing division and employees across the board. So this new round of changes will include us offering the employee recognition program to the entire company.
Popularity: 61% [?]
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Motivation comes and goes in every facet of life; we’ve all been there where one day we were all pumped up and the next we find it difficult to focus. This is certainly true in the world of business and most assuredly true for employees who are challenged to keep their motivation on an even keel each and every day so that they can be as productive as possible – and deliver what is expected of them. We worked hard every day to try to maintain the morale within our company but it had gotten to be difficult in light of the current economic conditions. We noticed that our employees were struggling; seeming tired and unfocused. It was time to liven things up and put a new goal out there towards which everyone could work. That was when we decided to implement a rewards program.
An employee recognition program allowed us to pre-determine objectives that we wanted to reach as a company and those goals that we wanted our employees to reach on an individual basis. We were then able to choose the prizes – the incentives – that worked for us and were within the budget that we wanted to keep. We chose a variety of really great prizes – that got better and better depending on the prize tier that the employee reached.
Before we knew it morale was back up as employees not only worked towards these prizes but talked about them and engaged in friendly competition with each other. Our employee incentives program really worked to refocus our energy and get people moving in the right direction again. Best of all, this was a program that we could continually adjust according to our needs – something that we could utilize for years to come but changing the prizes to keep it new and exciting.
Popularity: 92% [?]
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