All businesses want to create an environment that helps their teams be more committed. Unfortunately, this is never an easy task.
Most organizations try different ways to keep their teams on task and engaged. This might include incorporating different task management tools, collaboration platforms, and regular in-person or remote meetings. However, one of the most effective tools for keeping teams engaged is showing them they’re valued for the accomplishments they make.
Offering different rewards or gift card incentives is the perfect way for businesses to regularly show their employees they appreciate their efforts. But to get the most value out of this initiative, there are some important strategies you’ll want to have in place.
Define Specific Goals for Your Incentive Program
Before you begin offering different incentives, it’s important to first define what your employee reward system needs to look like. Start by outlining any goals you have for the program and how you’ll identify where and when rewards should be given.
Think about what your top priorities are. Are you looking to increase sales activity or bring in a certain number of qualified leads? Maybe you’re simply trying to increase employee participation in larger company initiatives. Whatever your main goals are, once you’ve defined them, you’re able to incentivize employee behaviors in that direction rather than just adding another expense to the business.
Select Incentives That Genuinely Motivate Your Team
While you might have certain goals in mind, if the rewards you offer to employees don’t resonate, you’re likely not going to see the results you’re hoping for.
Instead of making assumptions on the types of incentives that will or won’t miss the mark, consider asking your employees directly. You can have informal discussions with them during meetings or create a more formalized survey where they can provide their anonymous answers.
The insights you gain from these interactions can be invaluable in helping you to create a reward program that’s worth your employees’ time and effort. It will also help them feel more valued by the organization.
Establish Achievable and Measurable Targets
There is nothing wrong with providing rewards to employees throughout the year, such as during holidays or when reaching certain employment milestones. However, when trying to structure more of a performance-driven initiative, it’s important to establish certain measurable targets that you can build your program around.
The goal is to set achievable goals that keep employees excited. These goals should also help the business reach important milestones.Following the SMART framework – focusing on objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound – will give you a good structure to work off of and help increase the success of your program.
Communicate Your Program Clearly
Once you have identified the primary goals of your employee incentive program and the best ways to implement it, it’s important to have clear communication with employees about how it’s structured.
Consider the best way to roll out your program and include in your planning effective ways to communicate to employees how it works, what’s expected of them, and how rewards are managed. There are many different ways you can achieve this. For example, you could mention the program in company-wide emails, announcements made during team meetings, or provide details in company communication platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Regardless of your approach when communicating the program, the most important element is being clear about the reasons behind the initiative and how employees can get involved.
Deliver Rewards Quickly
A big part of increasing the adoption of a company reward program is to deliver rewards as soon as they’re earned. No one wants to guess whether or not the business is paying attention to their efforts, and unnecessary delays in sending out rewards can make employees lose interest quickly.
Waiting too long to provide a reward after achieving an important milestone weakens the connection between incentive and behavior. However, even more damaging can be the lack of recognition employees see when the good work they do goes unnoticed by the business.
Before launching any type of incentive program, it’s critical that the business has enough internal resources to manage it effectively.
Integrate Incentives With Ongoing Performance Feedback
By themselves, incentive programs shouldn’t be seen as a single solution for improving the productivity and morale of business teams. It’s much more impactful when rewards are complementing, not replacing, the regular feedback managers give to their teams throughout the year.
While a structured reward program is helpful, this doesn’t mean leaders can’t use rewards sporadically throughout the year to reinforce positive actions their teams are making. For example, offering a small gift card for a cup of coffee to say “thank you” for going above and beyond shows employees their managers aren’t missing the little things they do each day.
Blending sporadic rewards with structured incentive programs helps to create a healthy company culture where teams are continuously driven to exceed company expectations, while knowing those efforts never go unnoticed.
Regularly Evaluate and Refine Your Incentive Strategy
Even when you spend a lot of time designing your employee incentive program, over time,you’ll want to start making modifications to your strategies. Evaluate your program at least once or twice a year to make sure you’re seeing the results you’ve hoped for.
Tracking your program KPIs and surveying your employees will help you ensure you’re seeing a positive business return on your investments, and that employee productivity and morale levels are gradually increasing over time.
Make Your Employee Incentive Program a Success
Employee incentive programs are a great strategy to keep your employees engaged with their tasks while helping the business achieve its important objectives. By following the strategies discussed, you’ll make sure your reward program is both sustainable and ensures your employees feel like a valued part of the business.
