Fifteen Great Ways to Improve Your Incentive Programmes

8/6/2019 Fifteen Great Ways to Improve Your Incentive Programmes

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Fifteen great ways to improve yourincentive programmes

Incentive programmes can improve performance by 20to 40 per cent - but they must address specific needsor youre wasting time, energy and money. Spending

around two hours of salary cost per month forincentives is usually all thats necessary.


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1. Provide immediate and continuous

feedback and rewards

Generation Y and Generation X employees respond

best to immediate reinforcement. Behaviors are

shaped by closely tying praise and rewards with

activities. Delaying rewards until the end of a

quarter, month or week significantly reduces their

value and benefit.


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2. Look at an incentive programme as

ongoing

Long-term incentive programmes produce twice

the results of short-term ones. If youre seriousabout permanently improving KPIs, an incentive

programme must be continuous.


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3. Give small daily rewards

Rather than offer monthly, quarterly and

annual rewards, examine the sub-

components that comprise them. A small

daily reward for attendance with additional

rewards for five days in a row will produce

better results than a monthly perfect

attendance award. Reward the daily

homework, and the final grade will take care

of itself


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4. Offer a choice of rewards

Management cant be clairvoyant when

selecting rewards. Award certificates and

plaques look nice on the wall but do not

change behaviour. Employees want to

choose their reward - for example a

reloadable debit card, although extra time off

or other intangibles are also very popular.


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5. Do keep it positive, fair, fun and exciting

when earning awards

Everyone who qualifies must win something. The

exciting part is finding out the amount. Playing

games that generate a random number of rewardpoints adds excitement to earning awards. Whether

its spin the wheel, throw a dart, toss the beanbag or

draw a number from a hat, not knowing the number

of points brings suspense and heightens interest,

further reinforcing the activity. Broadcast the names

of big winners to keep the buzz going.


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6. Dont spread rewards too thin

Trying to monitor and reward too many

metrics can cause each to have insufficientvalue to achieve employee focus.


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7. Dont distribute rewards in the

payroll

By paying rewards separately from payroll, they areseen as special in the eyes of the recipient, reinforcing

how the reward was earned. Additionally, the

employee can spend the reward without waiting until

their next pay-day.


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8. Keep it simple by avoiding conflictinggoals and objectives

The law of unintended consequences can

cause conflicts. A goal of a higher salesconversion rate will increase average handle

times. Improvements in quality scores or

schedule adherence along with reduced

turnover and absenteeism will undoubtedlylead to improvements in all other metrics as

well.


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9. Measure the ROI

If youre not measuring the return on

investment (ROI) of your incentiveprogramme, how can it be justified? An

incentive programme is the same as any

other function; it must be continuously

evaluated and tested with control groups orbenchmarked with peers.


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10. Dont overload yourself withprogramme administration

Too great an administrative burden can

cause burnout of even the best incentiveprogramme administrators. Managements

attitude and opinion of your incentive

programme is clearly visible to participants.


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11. Do involve management

Team leaders, supervisors and managers

should participate in your incentiveprogramme. They should earn rewards

themselves and distribute ad hoc or

discretionary awards.


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12. Do ask for feedback and keep it fresh

Take regular surveys of the participants to

see what they like or wantchanged. Respond quickly to input. Actively

solicit feedback and reward it.


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13. Do brag about your incentiveprogramme

Use employee comments about your

incentive programme in the careers sectionof your website and in recruitment brochures.


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14. Participate in outside surveys

A great way to evaluate your incentive

programme against peer groups is toparticipate in surveys. Many are anonymous

and often participation entitles you to a free

copy of the report.


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15. Dont spend more than necessary

Spending more than 3 per cent of base pay

on incentives does not produce additionalbenefits. Most companies spend 1 to 2 per

cent of base pay or about two hours of salary

cost per month and achieve excellent

results. Staying within budget will ensurethat the programme continues and has an

excellent ROI.

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Fifteen Great Ways to Improve Your Incentive Programmes