Awarding Your Staff Rewards You: Three Keys to a Great Incentive Program

FollowMolly, Oct 8, 2010

We all know it's just good management to reward hard-working employees. And in today's economy it's more important than ever. In fact, statistics show that companies who recognize their people outperform those that don't by 30 to 40%.

While most managers say they do a great job of acknowledging industrious workers, a recent Gallup poll found that 79% of employees cite lack of recognition as the primary reason for leaving a job.

A solution: establish a formal employee recognition program that measures worker return on investment. Between 88 and 95% of all incentive programs reach or exceed their goals, and the ROI on non-sales employee programs (200%) is actually greater than the ROI on incentives directed to sales staff (134%).

Fortunately, it's not hard to build an effective recognition program using these three building blocks:

1. Formal

This is the foundation for the recognition program and is designed to acknowledge specific accomplishments. It's always tied to business goals and involves awards as tangible reminders of the accomplishment.

• Sales performance, attainment of goals
• Successful completion of projects, training programs
• Customer service, reaching quality standards
• Safety

2. Informal

Using this system builds a culture of recognition and supports the foundation of the program. It is flexible, permitting on-the-spot celebrations for special milestones.

• Create a compliment bulletin board
• Go public with praise
• Celebrate projects done well
• Anniversaries

3. Day-to-Day

This low-cost method of reaffirming recognition culture is infectious and self-sustaining.

• Highlighting employee accomplishments in newsletters
• Sharing "wow" examples in meetings
• Sending a note praising a coworker once a week

Experts also suggest that giving an award is much more effective than gifting money as a reward. 33% of people receiving a cash award used it to pay bills. 20% could not recall what they used the cash for because they considered money as income not as an award.

Show your employees how special and important they are by giving them recognition that they can keep and exhibit. From desktop awards, picture frames, and plaques, to crystal and art glass awards -- we have plenty of options that can be tailored to your program. Contact one of our promotional products experts to get started.