We truly believe in showing people that you care; that you notice their hard work; that they are valued. However, can you do this in a meaningful way?
You don’t want the incentive and subsequent reward to be tokenistic.
You want it to mean something to the employee – the person receiving it – and also to reflect your organisation’s culture and values.
In this blog, we explore 5 frequently asked questions about company incentives and rewards, to help you choose the best selection for you.
5 FAQs about Incentives and Rewards
Do you need incentives and rewards for employees?
It is all about how you are going to make your employees feel valued. Having a published, recognised and well-known incentives and rewards policy or system can certainly attract potential employees. It can also motivate those who need more than their salary or a traditional ‘slap on the back’ recognition, from time to time.
For you, it is also a way to more publicly and formally show your appreciation for your staff and employees. It is a way to show people they matter.
Finally, it is also about expectation. If you have formal incentives and rewards, then showing appreciation is woven into the workplace culture. However, if it is always ad-hoc or an afterthought, it often ends up being sporadic and, even, unfair.
How do you choose the right incentives for the business or organisation?
There are lots of options when it comes to incentives. Choosing which ones to offer will very much depend on the size of the company, your budget, how important you feel the incentives and rewards will be to your employees, and how regularly you want to offer them.
You also want to consider what incentives you are going to offer and which subsequent rewards for what ‘activities’. It is important to be consistent and fair.
Common incentives include:
– A monetary bonus: This can be given for individual or team performance. It could be related to a specific sales goal or a more pastoral contribution to the team, such as welfare and well-being.
– A salary increase: Increasing a salary is a more long-term and costly incentive, but it can help with retainment and show that ongoing hard work is appreciated.
– Additional annual leave: Offering additional leave is a good way to show the importance of work-life balance. This can be done as a specific reward or some companies offer every employee their ‘birthday off’ to show that their special day is also special to the company.
– Health and wellness benefits: Focussing on wellbeing can be a good basis for an incentive. You could offer free or discounted gym memberships, massage or even health insurance programmes.
– Professional development opportunities: Continuing professional development (CPD) is often important to companies, as well as individual employees. Offering to pay for courses, attendance at conferences or reimbursing tuition fees to gain a new and relevant qualification can be a powerful reward for those employees keen to grow their skills and advance their careers, particularly into leadership roles.
– Team building and days out: From experiences to day-long visits, to meals out, to ‘payday pizza’ in-house, consider incentives that reward a whole team and encourage spending meaningful time together. This can to support team building, interaction and teamwork.
– Gifts: Traditional ‘physical incentives’ can work well, such as specially chosen gifts. These can be used to mark work anniversaries, special occasions in an employee’s personal life, as well as thank you gifts for a special contribution. You can choose branded merchandise, vouchers, or more personalised gifts (such as a hamper).
– Public and written recognition: Finally, a public announcement in the form of a ‘shout out’ or a certificate, as well as a written letter of appreciation, can also be powerful. It is evidence that hard work is both noticed and valued.
For all incentives and rewards, you can choose them for individual achievement; for teams reaching a goal or completing a project; or company-wide to show more general employee appreciation, collectively.
Do incentives and rewards really work?
According to the CIPD and their Incentives and Recognition – An evidence review (2022): “There is a strong body of research showing that, overall, financial incentives have a positive effect on employee motivation and consequently performance”
The oft-cited reasons incentives work, include:
– Providing a sense of purpose and accomplishment
– Motivating to continue working hard
– Creating a sense of recognition
– Recognition of achievements, progress and meeting goals
– Boosting morale
– Encouraging collaboration
How can you ensure the chosen incentives work?
You can’t know without asking and evaluating the performance of your incentives and rewards.
It is important to experiment, test, measure and evaluate the incentives you offer.
Understanding ‘how much’ or how effective incentives work in relation to how much productivity is boosted is going to vary. Employees are individuals so it is unsurprising that certain types of incentives or rewards may work for some employees, but not others.
You may need to build in ‘options’ or alternatives to make them most effective.
Why is promoting a positive workplace culture through incentives important for business?
Offering a fair salary is often not enough in the modern workplace. Having an incentives and rewards programme in place can help to promote a positive workplace – where employees are recognised, which in turn can help improve overall employee satisfaction, which can increase productivity and engagement.
It can also support motivation which often leads to retaining employees for longer.
A well-publicised incentives system that is adhered to and followed can also attract talent to your business – letting potential candidates explicitly see that you value hard work and positive contributions.
Finally, when employees feel appreciated and are also rewarded they are more likely to feel happy in their work day-to-day, which promotes a positive workplace culture and a better working environment for all.
Speak to our corporate team
Our Gift Experts are on hand to answer your questions and help you to offer incentive and reward gift hampers.
Email [email protected], or call us on 01235 604955.
