A Guide to Building Your Employee Incentive Program

by Mackenzie Davids
December 18, 2013

When it comes to building a successful business, a strong team of employees is absolutely essential. Your company is only as strong as the individuals who support it. There are three crucial steps to building a strong team: attract, engage, retain. All three steps are heavily influenced by company culture and how employers show appreciation for hard work and company loyalty. Studies show that companies who frequently incentivize their employees have a higher retention rate, as well as a happier and more motivated staff.

It takes hard work, creativity, and teamwork to build and sustain a strong team. Read more here, from a previous post about the importance of teams and team building. These workplace components will aid in strengthening your employee base, and in turn, your business in the long run:

Meaningful rewards – Do your digging, get to know your employees and find out what types of incentives will really keep them engaged. Surveys and asking those types of questions in performance reviews and interviews are great opportunities to get to know what motivates each individual. Listen and respond.

Teamwork - There are invaluable benefits to sharing the responsibility and success with your co-workers. The company as a whole, as well as the individual employees, position themselves for success when they coordinate efforts.

Real-time performance recognition- For optimal employee impact it is important to positively reinforce good work in timely manner. As the memory of the action fades, so does the impact that the reward has on employees.

Tools to measure success – Each employee on your team is an investment and it is important to treat them as such. Businesses utilize company resources to develop each employee, and expect to see a return on that investment. That’s why developing tools to measure that success is critical.

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There are a lot of occasions which are fitting opportunities to reward employees. Often it is customary to recognize birthdays and anniversaries. It is also important to incentivize based on performance. Here are a few occasions in which it may be appropriate to compensate your employees:

-       Reaching sales goals

-       Going above and beyond for a client

-       Lending a helping hand to a co-worker in a bind

-       Exceptional customer service

-       Putting in long hours

-       A job promotion

-       The holidays

Each company has to select an incentives program that best suits their company culture. Yea, everybody likes a little extra cash in their pockets. But while cash incentives are a quick high and an easy solution to employee rewards, they do not hold as much value as doing something meaningful.

Below you will find 5 creative ways to reward your employees as we embark on a new year:

Vacation days – There are a lot of fun ways to use vacation days as employee incentives. Rewarding longevity with your business by giving employees vacation days as they hit employment benchmarks, can go a long way.

Company wide acknowledgement – Getting acknowledgement amongst peers can be a huge confidence booster. So whether the staff nominates an employee of the month, or you choose to acknowledge employees who go above and beyond in your newsletter, a little recognition can go a long way to boost morale.

Treat them to their favorite coffee or lunch – Sometimes, something as little as getting a coffee for someone who helped you reach your deadline goes a long way. It helps build teamwork and comradery between staff members.

Give them the rest of the day off – If you see someone on your team that has really gone above and beyond, maybe with a client, reward them on the spot. Allow them to take the rest of the day off.

Wishlists – Giving experiences instead of stuff creates long lasting memories and positive associations with your company. Wishlist gives you the flexibility of a gift card with the sentiment of a personalized gift. If you’re feeling really generous, pair the Wishlist with a day off work to go and enjoy their experience.

Most important of all, is the simple act of showing gratitude. A sincere ‘thank you’ goes a long way. It feels good when you know your hard work has not gone un-noticed. Incentive programs drive us to look forward, and work towards our goals. They enhance employee engagement, and built stronger teams. Each person contributes a piece of themselves to their work. Which when you build the right team, is the most valuable collateral you can build for your business.

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