Employee incentive program

Take the time to congratulate employees on completing educational milestones, such as getting a new certification or graduating in their Masters program, with team-signed digital cards and public recognition of their achievements.

Rewarding employees with bonuses and raises can be incredibly powerful. That said, you need to lay out crystal clear metrics and objectives so that employees know exactly how they can achieve their bonus. Be careful not to pit employees against each other, either. This can backfire and lead to resentment or even alienation from your company. Celebrating your employees through gift-giving shows that you care.

Try gamifying each of these holidays with fun contests and quizzes, and reward and recognize employees who participate the most. Popular employee gifts run the gamut, from onsite massages, to catered lunches, to a half day off of work. Tech gadgets, delicious snacks delivered or in-office , and quality swag branded or unbranded are great ideas as well.

And for employees who would rather choose a gift themselves, providing gift cards is a great solution.

Fifty-eight percent of workers would agree to a salary reduction if they could get extra vacation time. Time off gives employees the chance to maintain work-life balance and can greatly increase motivation. Additional time off can also help with rising employee burnout and disconnection. Giving high-achieving employees the right to choose their own projects is a wonderful way to empower and incentivize them.

Managers build trust when they permit employees to decide what to work on, something that many companies struggle with. Of course, the project options you offer should be personalized and appealing to each employee. A blanket, one-size-fits-all incentive isn't as impactful. Team leaders and staff should communicate with their employees about their short and long-term goals, as well as their career interests, on a frequent basis and offer projects to match.

Access our e-book covering effective ways to incentivize your modern workforce. After you choose the right employee incentive programs for your company, you need to put them into practice. Here are some best practices that can help you implement impactful incentive programs.

Ensure all team members have access to your incentive programs by implementing a variety of programs that fit every area of your business. You should also recognize every stakeholder who helps lead your incentive programs, as well as all those who participate in them. And make sure your incentive program comes with an engaging, user-friendly platform where team members can easily participate and reap the benefits. All these practices can help employees feel involved and part of an inclusive work environment.

Ensure that everyone knows about your incentive programs to grow awareness and encourage company-wide participation. To accomplish this, HR should build a promotion and communications plan to make every employee aware of the available incentives programs. They can follow this up by working with leaders to run ongoing campaigns that engage employees and keep them participating. These campaigns might include marketing tactics like posters, fun messages using the company email or intranet, or games that tie into the incentives.

Also, provide information about your incentive programs in your employee onboarding checklist so that every new hire is educated on day one.

Leaders must serve as examples by actively participating in and advocating for incentive programs. After all, the success of employee incentive programs relies on leaders promoting and building awareness of incentives programs within their teams. Your HR team should train leaders on how your employee incentive programs work and on the value of using them as engagement tools.

This could take the form of reference materials, training sessions or webinars, and even online learning courses. Some HR leaders are using HR hackathons, employee-journey mapping, and design thinking to uncover employee needs.

And of course, seeking feedback from employees is the best way to personalize their incentives. Learn why personalization is the missing link in employee experience. Listening to your employees is the only way to gather accurate feedback on your incentive programs.

Take the time to see how well your current incentives are being received and to understand what your employees really want. To start listening, use an employee feedback platform that allows you to conduct pulse surveys. In the workplace, employers may provide monetary or non-monetary incentives through an employee incentive program to encourage employees to uphold excellent behavior and job performance. Compensation incentive programs use cash bonuses and other financial perks to drive employee success and productivity.

Non-monetary incentives e. Employers can offer a combination of incentives based on sales numbers, productivity and other predetermined standards depending on their business goals.

Benefits include:. Offering incentives to your employees can bring the following benefits to your company:. Spot bonuses or spot awards are small cash prizes given to employees in direct response to an achievement. Employers give out spot bonuses as a way to give special recognition to employees working on challenging projects or taking extra initiative beyond the scope of their position. You may have a fund for spot bonuses or use discretionary funds to give them out occasionally depending on what other incentives you offer.

One benefit of offering spot bonuses is that they provide an immediate response to positive employee behavior. Even if an employee gets a yearly bonus based on performance, getting a small amount of cash right away provides positive reinforcement. Employers can celebrate and reward project completion by planning for project bonuses.

Project bonuses usually specify a particular deadline that employees have to meet in order to get a cash reward. When implementing a project-based compensation incentive, clearly list the criteria employees need to meet to get the bonus, including budgetary restrictions and milestones.

Project bonuses encourage teamwork and camaraderie, as everyone on the project team can have a stake in whether or not everyone receives a project bonus. Each person would be motivated to work as a team and help each other accomplish the goal. Performance bonuses are regularly scheduled cash awards that reflect employee success.

Salespeople earning a higher commission percentage for making more sales are a common example of performance bonus incentives. Companies generally pay performance bonuses when employees contribute directly to their financial success and growth.

Annual or quarterly performance bonuses are a popular way to track employee performance goals and reward top performers. Read more: How to Motivate Your Employees. Standardized raise systems can also be a great compensation incentive, especially when a company wants to focus on long-term employee retention. Employees become eligible for merit-based pay raises based on performance reviews and meeting certain benchmarks. Unlike performance bonuses which are paid out as one lump incentive, merit-based raises reward employees with long-term salary growth.

Over time, merit-based raises can add up and give employees a strong incentive to continue working for your company.

For example, many companies offer cost of living adjustment raises every year. Some also assess employee performance and reward employees who met or exceeded expectations with a higher pay rate. Clearly outline merit-based raise policies in your employee handbook to ensure fair compensation and equal opportunity for growth. Related: How to Communicate a Pay Raise. Profit-sharing refers to when a profitable company distributes some of its revenue to employees. This is a particularly popular incentive technique among startups who may not be cash-flow positive.

Profit-sharing allows employers to reward employees with the results of their work by giving out higher bonuses when the company makes more profit. Referral bonuses are payments that employees receive in exchange for connecting their employer with a candidate for an open position. Employers offer rewards if they hire someone that an employee recommended and they stay in the position for a minimum amount of time, usually a few months. A gain-sharing plan is a type of incentive where employees receive cash compensation as a result of increased productivity in one or more areas such as customer service, content creation or increased production manufacturing.

In this situation, you estimate the amount of money your company saved based on a more productive work environment. For example, if your manufacturing plant lost over packaged food products in the month of August due to employee error, and only in the month of September, the amount of money you saved would be split among your employees.

Beyond monetary incentives, there are also creative non-cash incentives you can consider offering your employees to boost morale and increase productivity. Some employees may enjoy time spent outside of the workplace. Offer them a free vacation to a local or destination resort. Offer better workplace equipment such as a nicer desk, computer or chair.

This can help employees work more comfortably and efficiently, and let them know that you care about their wellbeing. Read more: How to Improve Office Ergonomics. Besides your typical paid time off, consider providing additional vacation days to your employees for their improved performance. This helps them achieve a greater work-life balance. Some employees prefer to work in casual clothing such as jeans and a T-shirt.

Consider implementing a casual dress day once a week. Bring in outside services such as a chiropractor, food truck, yoga instructor or another service provider. Give employees a gift card based on their personal preferences, such as a music subscription, a bookstore or a restaurant. Company picnics provide employees with a break from office life. Some examples beyond the traditional picnic in a park include a trip to an amusement park or another recreational facility.

Offer employees free branded swag such as clothing, coffee mugs or water bottles that feature the company name and logo. This doubles as free company advertising. It can also make them feel appreciated and can motivate other employees to improve their performance, too.

Some people enjoy giving back to their local community or other organization. Employee incentive programs are the most direct methods of attracting and retaining professional talent. More creative and competitive employee incentives yield better bottom lines and greater business growth over time.

These programs also have a positive impact on your employee turnover rate. They will help you improve the overall employee experience in your organization. Continue reading to learn more about the importance of employee incentives, or jump straight to the list.

However, with employees becoming increasingly aware of the options available to them in terms of job opportunities , companies are having to compete harder than ever to attract the best talent available. To stand out, employers and managers need to modernize their approach to employee appreciation and think outside the box when creating employee incentive programs.

These programs will help you mitigate the cost of disengaged employees in your organization. With better-incentivized employees, you can expect better engagement and superb retention in the long run. Any modern enterprise can expect to face the current talent-attraction-and-retention challenges.

This calls for unique employee incentive ideas that will appeal to any and all of your employees. By giving your employees a vacation of their choice, with their choice of activities included, you are making sure they stay with the company, hopefully for the next 5 years. A fleet of environment-friendly vehicles, dedicated to employee commuting services will portray your as socially conscious. As a result, it will help attract and keep ecologically responsible talent.

One incentive that flies under the radar is a perfect environment. Sure, a workplace usually comes equipped with all the necessities, but factors such as great ambience, or a place to unwind after working hard, are great incentives. On-site entertainment will also prevent employees from losing focus while at their stations. You can also advertise the entertainment center to attract further talent.

At times, regardless of how dedicated an employee is, they may have to miss a few days, or even weeks, due to medical concerns. A company that truly understands this, and implements proper measures to ensure the message, is bound to have higher employee retention.

Offering unlimited sick leaves can compensate for lost time and effort, by inspiring employees to put in extra effort as a token of gratitude for the company.

It can also create an impression of humanitarian effort on someone who is looking to join, but has a chronic health condition. Part of being a great manager or employer is recognizing great potential. To help employees expand their skill sets and reach higher levels of professionalism, companies have to do more than encourage employees to learn. They also have to provide employees with the means and resources to do so. Investing in online courses for employee skill development can increase the professional value of your employees.

You can have a skilled workforce while providing employees with free training that they would otherwise pay for. Interested in learning more about employee incentive programs, then check out our HR certification courses:. Expanding on the previous incentive idea, it can be extremely motivating for an employee to also receive access to educational material on their hobbies or passions. Consider the following actions to provide employees with another route to personal growth:.

Courses for subjects such as music, media production, languages, and even astronomy are often more affordable when purchased as a batch subscription. Provide employees with the option to take any of the available courses, whenever they want. To engage employees and develop healthy relationships, employers must establish individual connections with employees, rather than as departments or groups.